


The Boys of Summer

by twenty3



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, First Kiss, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, First Time Bottoming, First Time Topping, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, IronStrange, M/M, Slow Burn, Summer, Summer Romance, Summer Vacation, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Underage Drinking, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 55,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25509313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twenty3/pseuds/twenty3
Summary: The first summer, Stephen Strange hated Tony Stark.The second summer, Stephen and Tony were virtually inseparable.The third summer, Stephen was back to wanting nothing to do with Tony. At first, anyway.Alternate universe set in modern day. Stephen grew up in a small time on Cape Cod, where he works at a water park in the summer. Tony's family owns a summer home right next to Stephen's, and he also works at the park. Over the course of summers together, they go from barely speaking to being desperate for the summer to never end.
Relationships: Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, IronStrange - Relationship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 112
Kudos: 182





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for clicking!
> 
> This work was inspired by the movie The Way Way Back, a favorite of mine. It got me thinking of a young Tony and Stephen, meeting every summer, and how their relationship could evolve when they're young and relatively carefree. 
> 
> I have a decent amount written, and am planning on updating on Saturdays. This is largely self-indulgent, but I hope you all enjoy as well!

The first summer, Stephen Strange hated Tony Stark.

Right up until the very end, before they left to start college. In Tony’s defense, Stephen’s attitude towards him had almost nothing to do with him and everything to do with something Tony had never known, and wouldn’t know for another year.

Growing up, summer was always Stephen’s favorite season. Living in a seaside community didn’t really afford for much else. His family’s home was nestled just behind the sand dunes on a quiet beach where he and his siblings would play from sun up to sun down. Their family didn’t have a lot of money, and his parents had to work hard to keep their three children in clothes that fit and eating three meals every day. But they made it work. And despite the generous offers for their property, the Stranges never sold. Parting with their home just wasn’t an option.

Things began to change the summer Donna died.

She had always been the strongest swimmer in the family, even though she was the youngest child. Donna was also the most impatient, which was why she hadn’t waited for her brothers that morning before running through the sand and into the water.

The rip tide came out of nowhere, and there was nothing anyone could have done.

Now, Stephen hated the summer.

Five years since his little sister had died. Stephen was now eighteen, almost nineteen, and about to start college. Donna should be fifteen. She should have just finished her first year of high school.

The same as he had since he was twelve, Stephen worked multiple summer jobs to help his parents with the bills and to save the rest for college. The first summer of Tony Stark (as Stephen had started thinking of it) he had finally been old enough to work at what he assumed would be his favorite job, at the water park in town.

He had gone there no fewer than a thousand times with Victor and Donna when they were young. Their parents had to drag them out at closing time more often than not. It was the only place other than the beach they were willing to go during the day.

Maybe that’s why it turned out he hated it there so much.

It was either the bittersweet memories, or having to work with Tony Stark.

The Starks had a home on the same street as the Stranges. It was part of the new development that had started to build up the town as they were swarmed with rich summer people. Stephen’s house was the last of the old houses, and the Starks was the first of the news ones. Less than fifty sandy yards separated the properties. Stephen could easily see the massive mansion from his bedroom window, cursing these intruders while watching it being erected in record time his senior year of high school. Everyone in town loved the Starks. Stephen’s parents even got along with Howard and Maria Stark.

Tony and Stephen didn’t.

It was mostly one sided. Stephen couldn’t stand how arrogant and self-centered Tony was. Tony didn’t understand how someone who never gave him the slightest chance could judge him so harshly, so he never bothered to try and correct him. They had only known each other for one summer, but about one hour had been all Stephen needed to make up his mind.

Despite their boss Owen trying his very best to get them to become friends over the summer, Stephen kept up his guard. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing that could make him want to spend a single second with the spoiled rich boy everyone else fell all over themselves to try and impress. Hooking up with countless girls and hanging around douchebag guys wasn’t even in the realm of things Stephen was interested in.

It wasn’t until the last week of them working at the water park that he realized he had been wrong.

The staff lockers were located in a separate, smaller building from the public space. Stephen assumed he was the last employee left, aside from Owen and the other manager, Caitlin. He had spent some extra time helping Owen clean up before going to grab his backpack to head home. So he was pretty surprised to hear voices coming from the locker room when he opened the door.

Boys and girls weren’t separated from one another. Everyone came to work already dressed in their bathing suit, without the need to change, and the park wasn’t big enough to have two different areas. It was never a problem. Mainly because no one was willing to risk the wrath of Caitlin, and always behaved themselves accordingly.

Except for right now, it seemed.

“Whoa, whoa,” Stephen heard a familiar voice say. He stopped in the doorway, the tiled partition blocking his view from the interior of the room. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Come on,” a lighter voice replied with an obviously fake laugh. “No one else is here.”

“That’s not the point,” the male responded. _Tony_ , Stephen realized. “Aren’t you dating Zach?”

A huff was the immediate response. “Zach doesn’t need to know.”

_Who’s dating Zach?_ Stephen  wondered .  _It sounds like Kara._

“Yeah, that’s not really how I operate,” Tony replied. “I’m not interested in you that way, I’m sorry. Especially since I don’t even really live here and am going to college next week.”

Kara laughed again. “Oh please. Everyone knows how you are, Tony. Stop trying to act like a nice guy and just admit you want me.”

Stephen couldn’t see, but Tony had moved as far away from Kara as he could, but to no avail. His back was pressed against his locker as she crowded him against it aggressively. Also unseen to Stephen was the numerous times she grabbed at him, only for Tony to constantly dodge and push her hand away.

“I’m sorry,” Tony was saying again, “but I’m not looking for that, and don’t think of you that way. I just want to get my stuff and go-”

The unmistakable sound of a slap echoed throughout the locker room. Stephen’s head jerked, as if he would suddenly be able to see through the wall at what just happened.

“Fuck you!” Kara declared. “I can’t believe I wasted my time flirting with you.”

Before he realized it, Stephen was moving, coming around the wall to enter the square room lined with blue lockers. Kara whirled around upon hearing him enter, but Stephen wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were on Tony, who was still up against his locker with a stunned expression on his face.

Without another word, Kara stormed off, going out of her way to throw the door open so it slammed against the wall with a crack.

Tony’s eyes had started to follow her out, but settled on Stephen when her path crossed in front of him. The taller boy took a few steps closer to Tony and saw a red mark already forming on his left cheek.

“Are you okay?” he asked, the first time he had spoken directly to Tony in over a month.

Eventually, Tony nodded slightly. He carefully put his hand to his cheek before pulling it away at the sting. “Yeah. Fine.”

“I heard the whole thing,” Stephen reported.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “You were there the entire time?”

“If I had known she was going to hit you I would have walked in to scare her off.”

“Yeah? I’m surprised you didn’t go the other way after she did.”

Stephen knew he deserved that, but was suddenly desperate to make it up to Tony. He had clearly been wrong about the other boy, and wanted to try to make him feel better.

“I heard what she said,” Stephen replied. “So if she tries to tell anyone that you did anything wrong, I’ve got your back.”

Tony breathed a humorless laugh. “Right. Like anyone would believe I did anything more than force her up against the lockers and attack her.”

Stephen shook his head. “That’s not what I mean..”

“Why are you telling me this?” Tony asked. “All of a sudden you’re on my side?”

_Your eyes_ , Stephen thought but didn’t say.  _The look in your eyes is one I’ve never seen on another person. Only when I look in the mirror._

“I, uh,” Stephen stammered. “I guess I maybe jumped to some conclusions about you that weren’t exactly fair.”

“Well,” Tony sighed as he swung one leg over the bench in front of him before sitting down. “Can’t say you’re the first. And I’m sure you won’t be the last.”

In lieu of an immediate response, Stephen ducked into Owen’s office and grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer. He wrapped it in a clean paper towel before walking over and holding it out for Tony, who looked up at him like he was offering him an organ.

“Thanks,” he finally said as he took it and held it to his face. “Would you believe me if I told you this is the first time I’ve ever been slapped?”

Stephen smiled slightly as he sat down opposite Tony. “Yeah, actually. Five minutes ago my answer would have been different, though.”

“Why do you hate me so much?”

Tony’s sudden question caught Stephen off guard. He looked at the other teenager for a long time before swallowing hard and averting his eyes.

“I don’t hate you,” Stephen said lamely. “Just not interested in making any more friends.”

“More?” Tony scoffed. “You keep everyone at arm’s length. Except Owen.”

Stephen kept his eyes down. “Because I have to.”

At the last second, Tony was able to stop himself from asking why. He noticed the tone of Stephen’s voice, and knew there was no way in hell he would give an honest answer anyway. So he decided to take what he could get, and let it be for now.

Silence settled for a moment before Tony sighed again. “So all it took to get you to stop hating me was getting slapped?”

“I don’t hate you,” Stephen muttered again. “I just thought – I judged the book by its cover, alright? That’s usually how it works around here. A smart, good looking rich kid is usually also a complete dick.”

“How did this make you realize you were wrong?” Tony asked, genuinely curious.

Stephen shrugged. “Kara’s not exactly tough to look at. She’s been basically throwing herself at you all summer. Honestly, I thought you had already...” he trailed off and shrugged again. “If you were really that kind of guy, I would have walked in on something a lot different. So I’m sorry.”

Tony huffed a short laugh. “Does this mean you’re not going to try to throw me off a slide now?”

Stephen looked up with a sudden smile. “If I wanted to I would have by now, Stark.”

Tony laughed, and Stephen wondered how he had gone a whole summer ignoring that sound. “Fair point, Strange.”

A truce was entered into at the farewell party for the staff the last Saturday of work for the summer.

Owen and Caitlin got pizza, sodas, and ice cream for the party, which they had at the park after it had closed. They kept the rides going so their employees could enjoy the park they worked so hard at all summer. At one point, almost all of them had ended up in the wave pool, on tubes, trying to tip each other over.

It came as no surprise that the game was started by Owen and Tony.

As night fell, everyone changed into dry clothes and huddled around a pair of picnic tables to eat ice cream and reminisce on the last few months together. Favorite stories were told, most of which involved Tony and Owen partaking in some antic or another that caused Caitlin to threaten to handcuff them together in her office to keep them out of trouble.

When it had been happening, Stephen was always rolling his eyes and huffing at Tony’s behavior. But now, he realized how much everyone liked the other boy, and how genuinely happy he seemed to be here. It never made sense to Stephen why a rich kid would work at a water park at his summer home for almost three months. But now, sitting next to Tony and making another sundae, he realized he didn’t much care anymore.

After the party, when everyone else had already left, Tony and Stephen remained, helping clean up the last of the evidence. Caitlin had allowed herself to be momentarily distracted by Owen’s charm, leaving the job to the teenagers.

“Do you think they’re ever going to realize they’re in love with each other?” Tony asked as he watched the adults blatantly flirting.

Stephen smiled. “At this rate, probably not.”

Tony kept tossing empty soda cans into the trash while he looked over at them. “So should I tell them I’m not coming back to work here next year, or can you stomach another summer with me?”

“What?” Stephen asked dumbly, caught off guard.

“Come on, Strange,” Tony said with a small smirk. “I know you’ve warmed up to me a bit, but we’re still not how they are,” he said, jerking his head towards their bosses. Stephen felt his cheeks heat up and was glad it was too dark for Tony to notice. “I’m the outsider. I don’t want to do anything to make your life difficult-”

“Tony,” Stephen cut in, “you’re giving yourself too much credit.”

The brunet laughed lightly. “So you won’t quit if I come back?”

“No,” Stephen said, shaking his head. “I don’t think I’ll do cartwheels, exactly. But I won’t quit. No way you’re winning that easily.”

“Deal,” Tony agreed, still smiling. “How about next summer we start over?”

Stephen nodded slowly. “I think I could live with that.”

What an understatement all of that would turn out to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback! Glad people are enjoying this =)

The second summer, Stephen and Tony were virtually inseparable.

On the very first day of work, anxiety buzzed through Stephen in a way he hadn’t felt in years. Even going away to college had been less stressful than the thought of seeing Tony Stark again. He had barely slept the night before and was at the park far earlier than the staff meeting called for.

A week into the first semester of college, Tony added Stephen on various social media accounts. Stephen was pleasantly surprised, and somewhat embarrassed with his weak profiles being seen by Tony’s all but famous ones. Stephen was even more surprised that Tony’s accounts were private, and not run by a PR person, but by the heir to Stark Industries himself.

Other than viewing each other’s posts and a few likes back and forth, there was no communication between them during the school year. The next best thing was the group chat of employees Owen started about a month before the park opened to send out the necessary details.

Tony was one of the last people to filter in before Caitlin called the meeting to order. The brunet had barely had time to sink into a seat before Owen was being told to please shut up and help her pass out the paperwork he was supposed to have been handing out as everyone walked in.

Already knowing all of the information and procedures meant Stephen could spend the meeting glancing over at Tony, each time both hoping for and terrified that the other boy would be looking back.

But he never was.

For a month leading up to summer break, Stephen coached himself not to get his hopes up. Just because he and Tony had cleared the air at the end of last year didn’t mean they were going to be friends now. No matter how much Stephen wanted to, no matter how much the prospect of an actual friend was, he just knew better than to get ahead of himself.

And yet here he was, wishing he had waited in the parking lot for Tony to arrive so they could have walked into the meeting at the same time and sat together.

Before Stephen realized it, Caitlin was dishing out assignments for the first day. His heart shot into his throat when she turned to him.

“Stephen, I want you and Tony to help train the new people,” she declared. “You two take one group, Kristin and AJ will take the other.”

As everyone stood to get to it, Stephen stayed sitting, far too excited and nervous for a job he could do with his eyes closed. Approaching foot steps made him look up to see Tony standing in front of him, his hand extended.

“Tony Stark,” he said with a grin.

After a second, Stephen stood and accepted his hand. “Stephen Strange,” he replied with a smirk.

“Nice to meet you,” Tony said, forgoing making a joke about Stephen’s last name. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

Stephen shrugged. “I’m one of the few who live here year round,” he answered. “Over on Front Street.”

Tony raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “No kidding! Me too. Which house is yours?”

“Small blue one with white shutters. Gravel drive way. White fence in the front yard too short to keep anything out.”

Tony nodded. “I’m in the mist gray monstrosity just north of you.”

Stephen cocked his head. “Isn’t it white?”

“No, no, no,” Tony said, shaking his head. “Mist gray. Which looks bright white in the sun, which there’s a lot of at the beach, but do not let Maria Stark hear you call it white. Trust me, it is in no way worth it."

A laugh was coming from Stephen before he recognized it. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Tony just kept grinning. “Smart move.”

So for the first two weeks, Tony and Stephen worked together every single day. They were on the same schedule, where they worked four days and then were off for two. They didn’t hang out while they were off work at first. Stephen spent his days off at home, reading or helping his parents around the house. The previous years, he had had multiple summer jobs, but his parents all but begged him to cut back so that he didn’t wear himself out before he even hit twenty years old.

The way the schedule fell this week, they had Saturday and Sunday as his days off. The town and beaches would be overflowing with tourists, as schools had finally let out for the summer, and he was happy to be away from the park for the first crazy weekend.

Stephen just finished tying his sneakers and grabbed his backpack to head home when he was stopped by a hand clapping him on the back.

“Hey, Steph,” Tony said. The nickname had been allowed to stand. “I’m glad I caught you.”

“What’s up?” Stephen asked, assuming Tony was about to ask him to help clean up or something similar prior to leaving.

Tony sat down on the bench next to him in front of his own locker. “I meant to tell you last week, but of course I forgot. You probably have plans already, but my parents are having a party tomorrow. I know my mom at least invited your parents, but I was supposed to make sure you knew. I’m sorry, man, I swore I told you and then remembered that I definitely didn’t.”

Truth be told, Stephen knew about the party. The whole town did. His parents had been talking about it just the other day. As was usually the case, Stephen had just assumed he wasn’t invited and would spend the day at home, maybe go for a nice long bike ride if it wasn’t too hot.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Stephen said. He could tell Tony was being sincere in that he had actually just forgot.

“It’ll be one of about fifteen thousands parties they throw this summer, so if you can’t come, there will be another one soon enough,” Tony said with a slight laugh. “But I hope you can make it.”

Loneliness was something Stephen dealt with ever since his sister passed away. That day, he felt like he lost a limb, and the gaping hole it left was visible to anyone he came across. He knew he was standoffish, and sometimes outright rude, and that was why he didn’t have any friends. He didn’t want any friends, because he found most people to be incredibly fake and selfish.

But he wanted to be friends with Tony because of what happened during the last week of the prior summer. He had seen the same look in Tony’s eyes, the look that said no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get being himself to ever work.

Stephen shrugged in what he hoped was a casual way. “I don’t have anything going on,” he said. “So I can stop by.”

_Stop by?_ Stephen cursed himself. _What the hell are you, a socialite?_

The bright smile on Tony’s face quashed any embarrassment Stephen felt. He appeared genuinely happy that Stephen would be there, which made Stephen’s heart soar. He would have been happy with merely being friendly with Tony while at work, but now that there was a prospect of more, he felt like a little kid at how happy he was.

Which was absurd, he knew. He was nineteen years old, for fuck’s sake, and was acting like he was eight and just got invited to his first sleepover.

But he couldn’t help it. The idea of having a change of pace this summer, of having someone he could hang out with, was exciting.

“Great!” Tony said, popping off the bench to open his locker and grab his bag. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Oh, no,” Stephen said, shaking his head. “That’s okay. I’ve got my bike.”

Tony insisted. “It’ll fit in the back, easy. It’s really been a dick move of me these last few weeks not offering to driving you, anyway. Especially now that it’s getting so hot.” He shut his locker and shrugged on his backpack. “Let’s go.”

There wasn’t any room for argument at that point, so Stephen didn’t try.

Of course, his bike fit easily in the back of Tony’s Audi SUV. A car he had loathed back when he had equally disliked Tony, but now found he could appreciate. It was a sleek black, and the interior was surprisingly clean given that it was owned by a rich teenage boy.

Stephen was ripped from his thoughts by the loud music that blasted through the speakers once Tony started the car.

“Sorry,” he muttered, turning it down. “Drives my mom absolutely nuts.”

A smile spread onto Stephen’s face. “I’m surprised my mom hasn’t tried to evict me yet for the same thing.”

Tony slipped on his sunglasses and rolled down all the windows as they pulled out of the parking lot. The wind ruffled his slightly curly hair, and the angle of the sun glinted off his glasses just right.

As if Stephen hadn’t noticed how good looking Tony was before, he certainly had now.

The less than five minute ride back to their street was filled only with the music coming from Tony’s stereo. Initially, Stephen felt awkward that they weren’t talking, but after less than a minute he realized the silence was actually comfortable. Tony was tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the music, nodding his head and singing along under his breath. Soon enough, they were pulling into Stephen’s driveway.

After putting the car in park, Tony hopped out and went around to the back to help Stephen take his bike out, even though it was clearly unnecessary.

“Thanks for the ride,” Stephen said as he put his bike against the fence.

“Any time,” Tony replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Stephen nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

For a second, it looked like Tony was about to say something else, but then didn’t. Instead he nodded once and said goodbye before getting back in his car and driving the short distance up to his own home.

In true anxious teenager fashion, Stephen spent over an hour later that night trying to figure out what to wear to the party the next day. His obvious crush on Tony Stark was fueling the fire, even though he wasn’t quite ready to admit it to himself yet. He simply enjoyed the other teenager’s company, and wanted to make a good impression. That was all.

Even though he knew there was no way he was going into the ocean, he decided on a bathing suit because the Starks also had a pool. At their beach house. Which he would be sure to tease Tony about when the time was right.

_Yeah,_ Stephen thought, looking down at the clothes on his bed. _This works._ Dark gray shorts and an emerald green t shirt with a tiny navy brand logo on the left hand side of the chest. He would look fine without it appearing that he was trying too hard.

Which he wasn’t. Obviously. He was just going to his neighbor’s house for a party.

No big deal.

But those sentiments didn’t carry over to the next day, of course.

A long day at work in the sun and heat tired him out effectively enough that Stephen slept through the whole night. He slept in, until about nine, when he finally went downstairs and had some cereal for breakfast. His parents were out in the back having their third cup of coffee, and informed him they would be heading over to the Stark's around two that afternoon for the party.

Those five hours went by impossibly fast.

On the walk across the sand to Tony’s house, Stephen’s heart started beating ridiculously fast. There were already over fifty people in the backyard and beach behind the house, most of whom Stephen recognized. A lot of people from town, but a few who weren’t. Tony’s parent’s friends, he guessed.

It was when he was close enough to see Tony, standing in a group of other kids their age and older, that Stephen’s nervousness went through the roof. A few he knew; from the water park, from high school, a couple who were his older brother’s age. No one Stephen had ever been friends with because they were the popular kids and he was a moody jerk no one wanted to hang out with. It made perfect sense that Tony would hang out with those types of kids. He was popular with literally everyone he met (except for Stephen at first) and would of course be the center of attention and life of the party.

Stephen was contemplating making up some excuse and running back home when Tony turned and saw him approaching and waved over to him. Stephen raised his hand and waved back, expecting Tony to turn back to the people he was standing with, and that would be the extent of their interaction for the day.

But he realized he was wrong when Tony started walking towards them. He was wearing navy blue shorts and a white and red striped t shirt that had no business looking as good as it did against his tanned arms.

“Hey, Stephen,” he greeted cheerily before turning to Stephen’s parents. “Hi, I’m Tony. I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

He shook hands with Stephen’s mom and dad with practiced ease, something that would surely have pleased his own parents.

“Eugene,” Stephen’s father said, “and my wife Beverly.”

“Thank you guys for coming,” Tony said sincerely. “I think my parents are up on the porch.”

Tony lead them up the beach through the backyard to the small flight of stairs that reached up to the expansive back deck that stretch all the way around the house. The Starks were indeed there, and had just finished chatting with another couple when Tony caught their attention. Stephen was introduced to Howard and Maria, who seemed genuinely happy to see the small family joining the party. Beverly Strange handed over the bottle of wine she had brought, which Maria insisted they open sooner rather than later.

Stephen was a bit taken aback by how friendly his parents were with Tony’s. He was aware that they knew each other, and had had dinner a few times with mutual friends, but hadn’t realized they were friends themselves. Which was a pleasant surprise. Assuming the Starks were stuck up rich snobs was another mistake Stephen had made when it came to jumping to conclusions.

“Tony,” Maria said, turning to the pair of nineteen year olds. “Make sure you show Stephen where all the drinks are. The food should be out any minute.”

“Water’s over there,” Tony said, turning to Stephen and pointing towards the ocean.

While Stephen was laughing, Maria swatted her son’s arm. “Don’t encourage him,” she pleaded with Stephen. “Excuse me,” she said to the Stranges. “I’m just going to pop inside and see if-”

“I got it, mom,” Tony cut in. “Not that Jarvis will let either of us help, but I’ll give it a shot. Want the grand tour?” he asked Stephen.

“Sure,” Stephen replied, following Tony across the deck to the sliding glass doors leading into the house.

They stepped into a sun room, which lead to the kitchen. It was roughly the size of Stephen’s entire house. Floor to ceiling windows bathed the entire space in the bright sunlight, and the air was cool from the air conditioning.

“We’re in luck,” Tony whispered conspiratorially. He motioned for Stephen to follow him over to the island, which was covered with every conceivable type of cook out food.

Tony went straight for the large crock pot, but wasn’t able to even get the cover off before a voice stopped him.

“Unless you’re keen to lose that hand, you’ll kindly retreat from my kitchen and be on your way.”

The words would have been more menacing had they not come with a kind tone and thick British accent. Tony turned on his heel, putting his hands behind his back innocently.

“You always expect the worst of me J,” Tony sighed.

“Based on my training and experience, sir.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but was smirking nonetheless. “Steph, this is Jarvis. Our...butler, I guess, but he wears way more hats than that. Jarvis, this is Stephen Strange. He lives in the next house over.”

Jarvis came into the kitchen and strode up to Stephen. Despite the warm summer day, he was wearing slacks and a dress shirt, which Stephen assumed was dressing down for him. He had a firm handshake and a gentle smile.

“Pleased to meet you, Master Strange.”

When Stephen opened his mouth to object, Tony cut in. “Don’t bother. He doesn’t even call _me_ Tony. No chance he’ll call you anything other than that.”

Jarvis sighed dramatically. “Yes, please forgive me for having proper manners and addressing the guests of my employer accordingly.” He then turned to Tony. “No, you cannot help. No, you cannot have any kielbasa before the guests do. No, I will not tell you where I hid the s’mores supplies. No, I will not allow you to traipse around the kitchen and haunt me while I work.”

Stephen couldn’t help the amused smile that resulted from Jarvis’s efficient dealing with Tony.

“What about Stephen?” Tony asked, jerking his head towards the other boy. “He’s a guest. Can he at least try the kielbasa to make sure the sauce is right?”

It actually appeared as though Jarvis was offended. “As if anything else would ever be the case,” he huffed. But then relented. “As a guest, he may, with assurance that you will then be on your way.”

Tony held up his hand. “Scout’s honor.”

Jarvis narrowed his eyes. “You lasted less than twenty minutes in the Boy Scouts before you were kicked out.”

“It was a mutual parting,” Tony disagreed, looking at Stephen with a smirk.

Instead of arguing, Jarvis went over to the crock pot Tony had been so interested in and removed a scoop of the sausage inside, placed it expertly in a small bowl and brought it to Stephen with a toothpick.

“Thank you,” Stephen said as he accepted it. He ate one of the perfectly sliced pieces of kielbasa and immediately his eyes went wide. “Oh wow. This is fantastic.”

“The food will be out after sir shows you the house,” Jarvis reported, returning to his duties on the other side of the island. “Which he will, of course, do so properly without the need for supervision?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “How could I possibly fuck up showing him around the house?”

Stephen expected Jarvis to chastise Tony for swearing, but he instead sighed again. “You never cease to amaze me, sir.”

With a shake of his head, Tony went through the kitchen to the dining room, and Stephen followed, eagerly eating another piece of sausage. He barely looked around him at the impressive house; the food was much more deserving of his attention. Tony lead him through a sitting room to the stairs, and they were halfway up when Tony stopped abruptly and turned to him.

“You’re seriously not going to give me any?” he said, but there was no heat behind his words.

Stephen looked down at the bowl in his hand. There were two pieces left. He pierced one with the toothpick and ate it before holding the bowl out to Tony, who gave him a very unimpressed look. But Stephen just smirked.

“Hey, this is crazy good,” he defended himself. “You’re lucky I’m giving you any.”

“You only got it because I talked him into it for you,” Tony muttered. He snatched the toothpick from Stephen and used it to eat the last piece. “Damn, that’s even better than it usually is. Alright let’s hurry up so we can go get more.”

No argument came from Stephen.

A quick viewing of the upstairs revealed Tony’s bedroom, which wasn’t as messy as Stephen would have guessed. A few clothes on his obnoxiously large bed, books and papers covering a desk on one wall, and of course French doors that opened to a balcony overlooking the sand and ocean. Next was what Tony called ‘the bonus room,’ adorned with overstuffed couches, a large television, multiple video game consoles and more pillows and blankets than anyone would ever know what to do with.

“And now,” Tony said, clapping his hands together. “We steal food.”

They quickly made their way back downstairs, but were very disappointed by what they found. Or, more accurately, didn’t find. The kitchen was completely spotless, without any trace there had been any food at all.

Stephen just laughed.

“How the hell did he get it all out so quick?” Tony wanted to know. “Whatever. Come on.”

Back outside, Stephen saw that the far side of the deck was lined with tables that were in turn covered with food. They both piled more than their fair share onto plates before descending the stairs and sitting at a picnic table shaded by multiple umbrellas.

It came as a pleasant surprise to Stephen that Tony hung out with him the entire day. They ate way too much food, played some games with a few of the others, and eventually even ended up in the pool. When Stephen’s parents took their leave, he opted to stay behind, at Tony’s insistence that he couldn’t leave before he had had any s’mores.

As the night was drawing to a close and the last of the party goers were starting to leave, Stephen helped Tony bag up all the trash and bring what couldn’t be left outside into the house. With their work complete, they found themselves in the kitchen, where Jarvis was instructing the youngest Stark not to dare touch the leftovers before lunch time tomorrow.

“I, uh, guess I’ll head home,” Stephen started when Jarvis said his goodnight and went upstairs.

“You can stay, if you want,” Tony offered. He didn’t see any reason why such a fun day needed to end so soon. It was clear he enjoyed Stephen’s company as much as the other boy did as well. “We can watch a movie or something, crash in the bonus room. I know you don’t live far or anything, but you’re more than welcome anyway.”

Stephen was agreeing before he even had time to register the excitement pumping through his veins.

And that was how it started. From then on, they saw each other virtually every single day, and were regulars at each other’s houses to the point where they no longer needed to knock before going in. To Stephen’s surprise and delight, they were friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for a variety of reasons, I'm considering cutting out a lot of what I already have written and posting a more concise version of the story I had imagined. I'm working on wrapping it up, and would likely put a chapter every other day or so in order to get it completed. I'm not set on doing that, though, so whatever feedback I can get would be appreciated!
> 
> This is a shorter chapter, with the next one being much longer. I plan on posting that before next Saturday to try and pick up the pace on this story and get it finished. 
> 
> Enjoy!

In the blink of an eye, it was the Fourth of July, and it felt like six months had passed instead of less than six weeks. Tony’s college roommate, affectionately called Rhodey, came to visit for the holiday weekend. Stephen went for the ride with Tony up to the train station in Boston to pick him up, quashing his anxiety that he wouldn’t see much of Tony while his friend was in town.

Later that night they went to the block party at the town beach, the trio keeping mostly to themselves but enjoying the party and subsequent fireworks all the same.

During the next few days that followed, Rhodey came and hung out at the park while Tony worked. He was content to nap on a beach chair, float in the lazy river, and harass Tony at whatever slide he was assigned to. Stephen was almost always close by, and couldn’t help but smile at how close Tony was with his best friend.

When their days off rolled around, Stephen assumed Rhodey and Tony would go off and do something, as it also marked Rhodey’s last two days of his visit before he had to return to Philadelphia. So he was rather surprised when he received a text from Tony that first morning, way before he would have guessed the other boys to have been awake.

_**What are you doing tonight?** _

_**Probably whatever you’re about to rope me into.** _

_**Drive-ins?** _

_**Rhodey has never been. They’re playing Jurassic Park and Jaws.** _

_**You in?** _

_**Yeah, definitely** _

_**Can you just come over already?** _

_**Way easier to plan if you’re in the same room** _

_**It’s been less than a minute** _

_**Too long** _

_**Door is unlocked** _

_**Hustle up Strange** _

Ten minutes later, Stephen walked through the sliding glass door into Tony’s kitchen, where he found him and Rhodey at the island. They were surrounded by pancakes, fruit, and assorted pastries. By way of greeting, Tony handed Stephen an empty plate while he continued to scroll through his phone.

“You really shouldn’t give in to him that easily,” Rhodey said to Stephen. “It just encourages him to act like a jackass.”

Stephen tried to hide his smirk. “I figured it was easier and would keep him from breaking into my house. Where there’s no pancakes.”

“Tickets bought,” Tony announced, as if his two friends hadn’t been making fun of him. “We should leave by 5:30 to get a good spot.”

“And snacks and drinks,” Rhodey supplied.

Tony scoffed. “Amateur. We bring all that in with us. We’ll go to the store, get a cooler full of soda, pick up a couple pizzas on the way.” He clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Just leave it to me, alright?”

“Sure thing, Tones,” Rhodey said dramatically.

“Master Rhodes, you must have learned by now to indulge sir when it comes to this kind of thing.” Jarvis’s light tone entered the kitchen as he stepped behind the island. “Arguing gets you nowhere. He built a projector and hung a sheet on the wall when he was nine all because it was winter and the theaters were all closed.”

“Which is more than reasonable,” Tony chimed in. “I seem to recall you participating in that movie marathon with me, J.”

Stephen caught the amused smile on Jarvis’s face before he turned around with a fresh cup of coffee. He sipped from it to while he surveyed the counter, ensuring there was enough food for the three boys.

“I never said it was unreasonable,” Jarvis replied. “Only that it’s not worth arguing with you over.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Is anything?”

“I’ve learned to pick my battles quite wisely, thank you. Is there anything else I can get for you gentleman?”

Everyone shook their heads. “No, thank you,” Tony responded. “I promise I’ll clean up. Put everything away and do the dishes. It’s your day off, after all.”

“Please don’t threaten me, sir,” Jarvis sighed as he took a bagel with him on his way back to wherever he had come from.

While they ate breakfast, Tony explained the protocol for the drive-ins to Rhodey. They would bring the bean bags chairs from upstairs, along with blankets and pillows. The back of Tony’s SUV could also serve as a seats for the movies. The explanation carried them outside, where they hung out by and in the pool for the day.

At one point, when Stephen had gone inside to use the bathroom, Rhodey turned to Tony.

“He doesn’t like the ocean, does he?”

Tony shook his head slightly. “I don’t think so. I’ve never seen him go in. He’ll go down to the water, but barely lets it get to his feet. I don’t know why.”

Rhodey considered his friend for a moment. “I’m glad you found a normal person to hang out with here,” he half teased. “I was worried about you spending too much time around more rich people."

“I wouldn’t call Strange _normal_ ,” Tony replied, purposefully loud so that Stephen could hear him as he came through the door back down to the pool.

“You would know,” Stephen shot back without missing a beat.

A few hours later, they hopped into Tony’s car and headed for the grocery store, where they bought enough snacks to feed far more than just the three of them. After grabbing the pizzas, they arrived at the drive-in theater, where they secured what Tony dubbed to be the perfect spot and began setting up for the movies.

They settled into the bean bag chairs with Tony’s car behind them, the open back allowing them to use the trunk space to put the pizzas and snacks. The cooler they brought served as a table between them. With almost two hours to kill before the first movie started, they carried on talking and laughing as they had all day at Tony’s; all week, really, since Rhodey had arrived.

Halfway through Jurassic Park, just as Stephen was starting to feel the chill setting into the air, he saw Tony get out of his seat and shuffle around in his car for a moment before tossing him a sweatshirt. An insanely soft maroon hoodie that he had seen Tony wear numerous times. Stephen was glad for the darkness so the blush on his cheeks wouldn’t be obvious as he pulled the sweatshirt on, with Tony and Rhodey doing the same.

Barely a dent was put in the amount of food and soda they had brought with them, but they still gave it their best shot. In between movies Tony went to the concession stand and got popcorn for them to share, which ended up being mostly him and Stephen while Rhodey busied himself with the Twizzlers.

It was probably just Stephen’s imagination, but he could swear Tony was sitting much closer than he had been during the first movie. He could feel the warmth of the other’s body through their sweatshirts and blankets. Tony’s legs were stretched out in front of him, propped to the side of the cooler, leaning against Stephen’s even longer limbs.

He was reading too much into it, Stephen knew. They were just all huddled together in the spot behind Tony’s car, that was all. And there wasn’t even any reason to read into anything, anyway. They were just friends. That’s all Stephen felt towards Tony, anyway.

Friendship.

Certainly nothing more.

That was why, back at Tony’s house in the bonus room, the three boys spread out on the massive couch, Stephen didn’t even notice when Tony’s pillow fell to the floor and his head ended up on Stephen’s shoulder. They were sleeping perpendicular to one another, now touching.

But Stephen didn’t care.

It didn’t keep him up the rest of the night, or anything.

Because it wasn’t a big deal.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I already have most of this written, I've decided I won't be cutting anything out. The reason I was considering it was because I leave for a trip at the end of next week, and didn't want to leave this in the middle while I was away for two weeks and come back with it unfinished. So instead, I'm just going to actually finish it and get it all up before then. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments! Always appreciated and keeps me going!
> 
> This was initially two separate chapters, but I condensed it into one because I thought it gave everything a better effect due to enter: angst.

Their friendship was firmly cemented in a way Stephen wished could have been different, but ultimately was glad for because it showed exactly who Tony really was.

It was easy enough to be friends with Tony; he was almost always in a good mood, very funny, generous, and outgoing. But he was also considerate, and was content to hang out with just Stephen instead of trying to force the other boy into big groups, which Tony had figured out he wasn’t all that comfortable with.

Peppered into their time together were more intimate details of their lives. Stephen saw, and heard about from Tony, his semi-rocky relationship with his father, but his equally strong relationship with his mom. Stephen explained what it had been like growing up in a tourist town, and admitted he always had trouble making real friends.

As close as they were, that one night was what probably changed the trajectory of their entire relationship.

It was getting late when Tony finally decided to head to bed. He had been hoping Stephen would come over, but his friend stopped responding hours earlier. Tony figured he either fell asleep early, or was engrossed in whatever he was reading. The latter was the more likely outcome on most nights, but tonight had been dead wrong.

Tony’s parents were back in New York at a fundraiser, while Stephen’s were away at a family wedding. All the way in Nebraska, if Tony remembered correctly. Part of him had thought that maybe, with their parents being away this weekend, Tony would have finally found the courage to explore if things with Stephen could go anywhere else. He was all but positive there was physical chemistry between them as well as with their personalities, and more and more he wanted to see where that could go.

The thoughts whirling in his mind stopped suddenly when he looked out his window and saw Stephen on the sand between their houses. He was sitting, his knees hugged to his chest, staring out at the dark ocean in front of him.

Something in the way Stephen was holding himself, or rather barely holding himself, made Tony head down to the beach in a controlled hurry. He had to bear right once he got through his yard in order to make a straight line towards his friend.

When Tony was only about thirty or so feet away, he opened his mouth to call out. But Stephen suddenly stood, without any indication, and walked straight forward into the water.

Tony was stunned and stopped dead in his tracks. The moon was just bright enough for him to be able to see Stephen walk in up to his shoulders before disappearing beneath the gentle waves.

For what felt like an hour, Tony stood there, rooted to the spot, staring at the water and willing Stephen to reappear.

But he didn’t.

So Tony took off running.

The water was warmer than he had been expecting. He easily got through the breakers, looking frantically around him for any signs of Stephen. Soon enough he was treading water, the sand several inches beneath his feet.

“Stephen!” he yelled, hardly recognizing his own voice laced with panic. “Stephen!”

No response. So Tony dove beneath the waves, kicking his arms and legs to try and come into contact with something, anything. The waves weren’t all that strong, but the darkness was disorienting. Every time he went under and came back up he had a hard time getting his bearings.

Finally, he heard splashing and coughing coming from his right, a few feet over. He caught sight of the moonlight reflecting off Stephen’s pale skin before he slipped beneath the surface again.

Tony’s arms seized him seconds later, wrapping tightly around his chest and hauling him back up. They both panted for air, Stephen’s body hanging limply against Tony’s in the water.

Wordlessly, Tony turned onto his back and started kicking, pulling Stephen with him to the shore. Finally, he felt wet sand under his feet, and he used it as leverage with the waves to push them onto the cool, dry beach. Arms still around Stephen, he moved them back until the water couldn’t reach even their feet anymore.

Despite finally being on land, Tony didn’t let go of Stephen. He felt the other boy’s heart racing under his hand, his own chest heaving against Stephen’s back.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked, bordering on demanded.

But Stephen didn’t reply. He felt boneless against Tony, but he was obviously breathing. Tony finally let him go and moved to the side to look at him.

“Stephen,” Tony said, his voice softer now. “Are you okay?”

The taller of the pair finally nodded once, keeping his eyes down on the sand between his feet. Salt water dripped from his hair across his face and cheeks, which kept Tony from realizing he was crying.

“What the hell was that?” Tony wanted to know. “What are you doing out here?”

Nothing even close to a response came from Stephen other than his body starting to shiver. Tony wanted to shake him, scream at him until he said something, but knew that wouldn’t get him anywhere. So instead, he took Stephen’s hand and hauled them to their feet. He wrapped an arm around Stephen’s waist and slung Stephen’s arm around his own shoulders before starting back to his house.

Stephen went willingly enough, in an almost zombie like trance. He only really registered what was going on when he was in what he recognized to be Tony’s bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub. His t shirt and shorts were missing, leaving him in only his soaked boxers.

He was far too exhausted to be embarrassed.

“Can you hear me?” Tony was saying.

A shaky breath left Stephen’s lungs. “Yeah,” he finally said.

Tony held back a sigh of relief. “I got you some dry clothes. You should probably take a warm shower. You’re shivering, and covered in sand.” Stephen stared back at him blankly. “Steph? Do you want me to help you?”

That thought got Stephen moving. He shook his head slowly. “No, I can do it. Thanks.”

As reluctant as he was to leave Stephen alone, Tony wanted to get out of his own wet clothes. After turning the shower on for him, Tony left, heading across the hall to the guest room Rhodey had occupied a month ago to shower himself.

In less than five minutes, he was back in his room, sitting on his bed with clean shorts and a t shirt on, waiting patiently for Stephen. It was another ten before the water in his bathroom turned off, and ten more after that before Stephen finally emerged from a steam cloud.

Somehow, he looked vulnerable in Tony’s clothes, even though they just barely fit him. The t shirt stopped right where the thin sweatpants started, and the thin line of skin he saw while Stephen rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly made Tony realize he had forgotten to give him a pair of boxers. But it didn’t seem as thought Stephen even noticed, let alone cared.

He stood next to the bed, bloodshot eyes refusing to look at Tony.

“Do you need anything?” Tony asked. “Water?”

Stephen shook his head. “No. I’m okay. Sorry, I, uh...” he trailed off, shaking his head again. “I should probably just go.”

Tony stood slowly. “Do you want to go?” Stephen looked up at him, eyes filled with tears. “You don’t have to, Steph. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t think you want to be by yourself right now. Hell, _I_ don’t want you by yourself right now.”

That was what made Stephen break.

A sob lurched his shoulders, and that was all it took for Tony to step forward and hug him tightly. Stephen’s arms closed around Tony just as hard, and he buried his face in the curve of his neck as the tears spilled from his eyes. He clutched at Tony’s shirt as if it were a lifeline as he cried uncontrollably.

Tony gripped Stephen’s shoulder with one hand while the other ran up and down his spine slowly. They stood like that for a long time, Tony holding them up while Stephen fell apart in his arms.

“It’s okay,” Tony said softly. “You’re alright, Stephen. Just let it all go.”

So he did.

No attempt on Stephen’s part was made to keep himself under control. He was too tired, too heartbroken to do so. A brief flash of fear screamed at him that this was too soon, that it would push Tony away and he would lose the only friend he had managed to make in years.

But the consistent hold of Tony’s strong arms around him told him differently.

He only noticed he was shaking again when Tony was maneuvering them down to his bed and under the covers. Stephen kept his eyes shut and face against Tony’s neck, uncaring of how weak he probably looked. It was hard to worry about any of that when he was laying in Tony’s warm bed, with a soft pillow under his head and the comforting weight of Tony’s quilt over him.

With a clearer head, Stephen would have been more self-conscious about the fact that their bodies were pressed head to toe. He had never been this close to Tony before, and was actually trying to press himself even closer against the other boy. His right arm was around Tony’s waist securely, their legs tangled together, Tony’s hand still tracing up and down his back.

Even when Stephen’s breathing finally started to even out, no words were spoken. Tony’s hand didn’t stop moving, and Stephen made no move to let Tony go. He thought it impossible, but just moments later, Stephen drifted off to sleep in the safety of Tony’s arms.

For three hours, Tony didn’t move other than to keep tracing Stephen’s spine and to breathe. He was afraid anything more would wake him up, and it just wasn’t worth the risk. His mind turned constantly, trying to figure out what could have possible made Stephen behave so bizarrely. He had never seen anything close to it from his friend, and even though it had only been one summer, Tony knew Stephen well enough to realize this was something big to have made him act out like that.

Despite his stillness, Stephen eventually roused against him, shifting slightly and breathing in deeply. Tony wasn’t sure what he should do, and before he could make up his mind, Stephen was lifting his head away from his chest and looking up at him in the darkness.

There was just enough light coming through the parted curtains for them to see each other’s faces. Stephen’s grip had loosened on Tony’s waist so that now his hand rested on his hip, and Tony unconsciously moved his hand from his back to Stephen’s hip to mirror it. Stephen’s right leg was still between Tony’s, keeping him feeling grounded.

Stephen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His eyes fluttered closed, and Tony assumed he was going to go back to sleep.

Instead, he started talking.

“My little sister died when I was thirteen,” he stated, voice impossibly weak. Tony tensed involuntarily next to him. “She was ten. Every morning she would drag me and Victor out of bed to go in the water before people started showing up. She was...” he swallowed hard. “She was supposed to wait for us, but she never did. Victor never even got out of bed that morning. Not until he heard me screaming.”

Tony felt like he couldn’t breathe, and any air that was in his lungs was completely gone when Stephen opened his eyes again and looked at him, so broken and lost.

“I was only a few minutes behind her. But when I got to the beach, I couldn’t see her in the water. And then I saw two people standing knee deep, right where I was tonight, watching a guy dragging her out. There – it was a riptide. She knew to look out for those, but it came out of nowhere and...”

Fresh tears started pouring from Stephen’s eyes. Tony wanted to reach out and wipe them away, but knew it wouldn’t do any good.

He took another shuddering breath. “I haven’t been in the ocean since. Because it’s my fault.” Tony shook his head, but Stephen didn’t notice. “She knew she wasn’t supposed to go alone, but I knew she never listened. She was too impatient. I should have made her wait, or just gotten up right away because _I knew what she was like_. All she wanted was to swim with us when we had the beach to ourselves, and I knew that. I should have been there. It’s all my fault.”

“No, Stephen,” Tony said gently. “It’s not your fault. It was an accident.”

“I found a box of her old stuff,” Stephen said as if Tony hadn’t spoken at all. “In the back of my closet. Pictures, bracelets she made, a couple of her favorite books. Stuff my parents don’t know I have. I sat on the floor with it for hours, and then the next thing I knew I was sitting in that spot. The spot where she died. And I just...had to go in the water, because I knew it’s what she would want. She would tell me I’m being so stupid staying away. She loved it so much, and wouldn’t want me sitting on the sand for the rest of my life.” Stephen closed his eyes again, tears running down his pale cheeks. He gripped Tony’s hip without meaning to, trying to keep himself from breaking down again. “I killed her,” he sobbed. “I killed her.”

“No,” Tony said firmly. His hand shot up to cup Stephen’s face, and that made the other boy’s eyes open in surprise. But he didn’t try to move away. “You didn’t. It was an accident. It wasn’t your fault.”

Chewing his bottom lip, Stephen staved off another sob. “I miss her so fucking much.”

Tony had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could speak. “I’m so sorry, Stephen. I’m so sorry.”

His hand slid into Stephen’s hair as he fell into his chest again, trying to take deep breaths. Tony brushed his fingers through the short strands, holding him tightly.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Tony repeated, mumbling into Stephen’s hair.

“I’m sorry,” Stephen exhaled into Tony’s t shirt.

For what, he didn’t say. But it didn’t matter.

Tony pressed a kiss to the top of Stephen’s head before he could stop himself. “Don’t be sorry. You’re not doing anything wrong.” Tony then reached down and laced his fingers with Stephen’s hand, still on his hip. “I’ve got you, Steph. I promise.”

Stephen wanted to thank him. He wanted to let spill all of his feelings, everything he had been thinking over the summer the more time they spent together.

But all he could do was squeeze Tony’s hand, and eventually, fell back to sleep next to him.

* * *

The alarm sounded far too soon the next morning. Tony was unable to locate his phone, mostly because he wasn’t willing to let go of Stephen’s hand. He finally realized it was on the bed behind him, and was able to twist his free arm enough to slap at the screen until it stopped making so much god damn noise.

A breathy sigh came from Stephen laying next to him. His eyes slowly opened, revealing he had clearly forgotten where he was for a moment, until they settled on Tony.

“Please tell me there’s a hurricane outside and we don’t have to go to work today.”

The laugh that came from Tony made a small smile tug onto Stephen’s lips. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s the case.”

Reluctantly, he let go of Stephen’s hand when the taller boy raised both of his to rub over his tired face in an attempt to combat the exhaustion still clinging to him. And to try and quash the embarrassment he felt boiling up.

But in true Tony Stark fashion, he could read how Stephen was feeling and responded appropriately. He didn’t want to talk about last night anymore at the moment, if at all, and Tony was certainly not going to press the matter. Instead, he sat up with a suppressed groan.

“Want some breakfast?”

“No thanks. I gotta go home and grab my stuff.”

Tony nodded. “Okay. I’ll pick you up in a half hour?”

Stephen was going to protest, but knew he was way too tired to ride his bike to the park, as short of a ride as it was. And he figured the best way to get rid of the awkwardness he felt was to pretend like nothing was wrong, not push Tony away. He drove Stephen to work every single day. There was no reason to switch it up all of a sudden just because he had had a bad night.

“Yeah, thanks,” he said, swinging his legs to the side of the bed and standing up. “I’ll bring your clothes.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tony replied with a wave of his hand. “I was sure to give you my least favorite clothes.”

A genuine laugh bubbled from Stephen’s lungs. He knew Tony was lying about that; he had seen his friend wearing these very clothes multiple times.

Walking back home, Stephen stopped in the sand at the spot he had been sitting last night. He looked out at the water, perfectly blue and shimmering in the early morning sun. He felt the familiar knot form in his stomach, but it was a bit looser today than it usually was.

Up in his room, Stephen saw that the box of Donna’s things was still in the floor next to his bed where he had left it. With a heavy heart, he put the lid back on and returned it to its place in his closet before changing and getting his backpack.

The ride to the park was quiet, but not uncomfortable. Tony kept glancing over at Stephen, hoping his sunglasses was obscuring the worry in his eyes. The other teenager seemed tired, but not the on the verge of another breakdown or anything.

That would come a bit later.

It was Saturday, which meant the park was busy as soon as the gates opened. Stephen was glad for the distraction, and kept busy for the whole morning. He imagined his vulnerability leaving his body through the sweat making his shirt stick to his skin. The sun felt good to the point where he didn’t recognize it was draining him until it was too late.

The end of his lunch break this shift came as Tony’s was starting. Stephen was the last one in the break room, and Tony was the first to come in. He saw Stephen sitting at the table in the back, not having touched any food at all, his hands clasped in his lap where he was staring down.

“Hey,” Tony said softly as he walked over to where Stephen was sitting. “You alright?”

Stephen looked up at him quickly. “Yeah, fine. Just tired.”

Tony nodded slightly. “You should probably eat something.”

“I’m fine, Tony. Really.”

“You didn’t eat anything this morning, and it’s so hot-”

“I said I’m fine!” Stephen exploded, getting to his feet suddenly. “Do you ever fucking listen?”

The shock was evident on Tony’s face. He took a half step back away from Stephen. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just want to help you.”

“I don’t need your help,” Stephen spat. “I just need you to leave me alone for once.”

“I, uh,” Tony stammered. “I didn’t mean – sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, after last night.”

As good as Tony had gotten at reading Stephen, there was still so much he didn’t know. Couldn’t know. He didn’t realize Stephen had a pounding headache from crying so hard last night, drinking no water, and being in the sun for so long. He didn’t know his heart was racing and he felt sick to his stomach with anxiety, worrying that Tony was going to start distancing himself from Stephen.

“I’m. Fine.” Stephen emphasized through gritted teeth.

Before Tony could respond, a few others started to come into the break room for their lunch. No one noticed Stephen shoulder his way forcefully past Tony, or the latter staring after him with a hurt expression on his face.

No one except Owen, who had been in the office the whole time, unbeknownst to the two teenagers.

“Hey, Stephen,” the manager called after the fleeing employee. “Wait a second.”

Stephen stopped, but didn’t turn around. He was fighting to catch his breath and willing the tears stinging his eyes not to fall. Owen came around to stand in front of him, took one look at the teenager, and gently put a hand on his shoulder. He lead him to the staircase on the side of the building, which brought them up to Owen’s apartment. After steering Stephen to the nearest chair, he sat down at the table across from him.

“What’s going on?” he prompted gently.

“Nothing,” Stephen sighed, wiping at his eyes furiously. “I’m just tired, and don’t feel that great.”

“Then you should go home,” Owen suggested.

“It’s not that kind of not feeling great,” Stephen muttered. He dragged his hands over his face several times. “Last night...I was sitting in the spot where Donna died.”

Being a resident of the town himself, Owen remembered all too well the day Donna Strange had drowned. He knew the family from their frequent trips to the water park, and had even babysat once or twice when Victor hadn’t been old enough or wasn’t around to watch his brother and sister.

“Is it the anniversary?” Owen asked carefully.

Stephen shook his head. “No. I was just looking through her stuff and ended up there. I went into the water, but got turned around with the waves in the pitch black. Tony had to pull me out.” The older man leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, silently encouraging Stephen to continue. “I totally lost it. Completely broke down crying. I, um, slept in his bed with him. I told him what happened, why I was so upset.”

“Is that why you just yelled at him back there?” Owen asked with a jerk of his head. “Because he knows something about you a lot of people don’t?”

It wasn’t a surprise that Owen was able to articulate it so well. Stephen nodded.

“He’s my only...I just don’t want anything to change,” Stephen all but whispered. “Not that way, at least,” he added as an afterthought, not meaning to say it out loud.

Owen smiled even though Stephen wasn’t looking at him. “Tony’s a good kid. Almost as good as you. He’s not going to treat you any differently. If anything, it’ll just make you guys closer.”

Stephen sighed. “That’s also something I’m afraid of.”

He didn’t need to elaborate. Owen, and Caitlin as well, had picked up on the chemistry between the pair. But now wasn’t the time to tease Stephen about his hopeless crush on his closest friend.

“I don’t think you should be,” Owen offered. “But what I do think is that you need to drink some water and eat something. I’m not letting you back out there until you do. And then you’re gonna switch with Kyle at the concession stand and stay out of the sun for the rest of the day. You look totally drained, kid.”

Which was true, and was why Stephen didn’t try to put up a fight at all. He drank the two bottles of water and ate the entire sandwich Owen gave him. After making sure he wasn’t going to pass out or anything, Owen returned to the park so as not to arouse any suspicion. Stephen was able to hideout upstairs for the next hour, thankful for the cool air and peace and quiet for a while.

At the end of the second lunch hour, he went back out and took over Kyle’s post in the concession stand. The younger employee was more than happy to go over to where Stephen had been on the most popular slide, where there would be plenty of girls to flirt with.

The stand was busy, as always, and that made the afternoon go by fast. An hour before closing, clouds began to roll in, threatening storms any minute. Everyone started packing up and heading out early to get back home before the rain came. With more than enough staff in the booth, Stephen made an excuse and grabbed two drumsticks before setting off to find Tony.

Of course, he was at the top of the tallest slide, but Stephen figured climbing the hundred plus stairs was part of his punishment for acting like such a jerk earlier.

Tony was leaning up against the high railing, looking out at the sky at the building storm clouds. He turned when he heard Stephen come to the top of the stairs, and accepted the offered ice cream cone with a raised eyebrow.

“Peace offering?” Stephen said lamely, but Tony smiled.

“Thanks,” Tony replied before sitting in his chair.

Stephen took the other one, suddenly wishing he had a better idea of what he was going to say. He shed the wrapper and took a few bites while he thought it over.

“I, uh, wanted to apologize. For earlier.” Before Tony could protest, Stephen continued. “It’s not okay that I snapped like that. Yeah, I’m exhausted, but I just got scared, I guess.”

Tony frowned. “Of what? Of me?”

Stephen shook his head quickly. “No, not of you. Of what would happen, after, with us. I was scared things were going to change.”

“I don’t understand,” Tony said. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t really know,” Stephen admitted. “I don’t talk about...about Donna, with anyone. No one really knows about it, that that’s why I was such a dick when I was younger. Which resulted in me having zero friends. Other than you.”

Tony smiled slightly. “I think Rhodey would take offense to that.” Stephen breathed a laugh. “But seriously, Steph, it’s alright.”

Stephen looked down at the melting cone in his hands. “The people I care about always leave. First it was...” he swallowed hard and trailed off. “Then my brother went to college the next year and doesn’t really come home. We weren’t ever as close as me and Donna, but now it’s like we’re strangers. And I just got nervous, that things with us would be different.”

“Well, yeah. They will be.” Stephen looked up at him in near alarm. “But not in a bad way. I’m not going to stop being friends with you because of it. If anything, I think it’ll just bring us closer. Don’t you?”

_And Owen, too,_ Stephen thought to himself, but didn’t say. “Yeah,” he agreed instead. “Now that I’ve had time to think about it and stop acting like an idiot. I just – I’m sorry, Tony.”

“I’d like to think we’re good enough friends at this point that this isn’t going to be a big deal. Because it’s not,” Tony said resolutely. “I’m so, so sorry you lost your sister. And I’m even more sorry you’ve blamed yourself all this time and felt like you were alone. But you’re not anymore.”

Even if Stephen had been able to come up with a response to that, he wouldn’t have been able to get it out around the lump in his throat. He was just glad he regained his composure before Caitlin appeared on the landing.

“Are you guys about done up here, or are you hoping to get struck by lighting?” she asked with perfect timing as thunder seemed to shake the entire structure.

Stephen looked over at Tony, who was of course grinning. “We’ll head right down, the slide takes like ten seconds.”

“Stairs,” Caitlin declared. “Do not test me, Stark, I swear. Making me walk up all this way to find you dorks.”

“Isn’t that why we have walkie talkies?”

Caitlin gave him a very unimpressed look. “You know Owen loses his every day and then steals mine. You know that.”

She went on muttering to herself as she headed back down the stairs. Tony and Stephen both stood to follow, but their progress was momentarily halted by Stephen pulling Tony into a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he said so quietly Tony wouldn’t have heard him but for Stephen’s mouth being right next to his ear.

“You’re welcome,” Tony replied, returning the embrace.

Half an hour later, they were in Tony’s car, just as the rain was starting to fall from the dark sky, making their way back home. As they got closer, Stephen’s anxiety started to return. And of course, Tony picked up on it.

“Listen,” he said when they came to a stop at a light. “I know you’re probably dead tired, but you’re obviously more than welcome to come over tonight. Or I could go to your house, if you want company. But if you’re too tired and want to be alone, I get it.”

Stephen was shaking his head before Tony even finished talking. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Tony nodded once. “Chinese?”

“It’s like you can read my mind,” Stephen replied with a smile.

_I wish_ , Tony thought somewhat sadly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to not wanting to cut anything out, this story will be twenty chapters, and then end with an epilogue. Which means I have to post a chapter a day, with some days having more than one put up. But that's a good thing, right?

The summer was drawing to a close yet again. Stephen pushed the thought to the back of his mind and did his very best to just enjoy this last day, to enjoy the party Caitlin and Owen were throwing for them. But he was finding that harder and harder to do the more he looked at the photos on the wall outside the ticket booths.

His eyes kept going back to the one of him and Tony. They were on top of a picnic table, their feet where they should have been sitting. For once Tony wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, and the camera perfectly captured how deep brown his eyes are. He was holding his hands out, obviously trying to get Stephen to agree with him, while the latter was just laughing and in mid shake of his head.

Stephen had no idea who took it. Caitlin, probably. He was seriously considering stealing it when he heard Tony’s voice behind him.

“You can’t be mad at me.”

Stephen turned around, frowning in confusion. Tony was standing with his hands behind his back and a less than innocent smirk on his face.

“I have a bad feeling I’m going to disagree with you there,” Stephen replied slowly.

Tony’s smirk only grew. “If you’re going to be mad at anyone, it’s gotta be Owen.”

“What are you -” Stephen was stopped mid sentence by Tony moving his arms, bringing the water gun around and opening fire right into Stephen’s chest. He stood there for a second, stunned. But only for a second. “You better run, Stark.”

Unfortunately for Tony, he didn’t get far before Stephen caught up to him after arming himself with several water balloons, all four of which landed squarely on their target.

The staff split into teams, and an all out war began. Owen leading his troops, including Tony, against Caitlin, whom Stephen sided with.

“You’re a god damn traitor Strange!” Owen yelled from behind a fortress of beach chairs.

“You started it!” Stephen called back.

There were multiple casualties on both sides. As many words were exchanged as water balloons. After a particularly poorly timed attempt at an ambush, Owen and company retreated quickly, allowing Caitlin and her troops to regroup.

Peeking over the picnic table, Stephen saw Tony standing up, walking toward them with his t shirt off, swinging it over his head. Thankfully, Stephen’s face was already flushed from all the running around, so his blush wasn’t noticeable.

Not like he hadn’t seen Tony without a shirt before. But every time just got better and better.

“I think it’s time for peace talks,” Tony declared. “Caitlin, send your delegate.”

Caitlin had to point her own water gun at Stephen to get him to go out and meet Tony. He dramatically held his hands in the air as he came to a stop about five feet from Tony at the edge of the lazy river.

Tony halted his waving of his t shirt.

“That’s not even white,” Stephen pointed out.

“It got the point across,” Tony countered. “Just admit defeat and then we can get to the part where we eat tons of food.”

Stephen cocked an eyebrow. “Why would we be admitting defeat?” he asked. “I seem to remember Owen yelling ‘retreat’ repeatedly and hiding behind you.”

“That’s not relevant,” Owen chimed in, sticking his head up, only to immediately duck back out of the way when Caitlin raised her gun blindly in his direction.

“Well one of us has to, and I think we both know it’s not going to be me,” Tony said with a scoff.

Stephen shrugged. “Well then we’re at a stalemate.”

Tony let out an exaggerated sigh. “Then you leave me no choice.”

Before Stephen could inquire, Tony tossed his t shirt in the air. Stephen reached up to catch it out of instinct to keep it from hitting him in the face. Which he succeeded at, but also opened himself up for Tony grabbing him in a bear hug and tackling him into the water.

When they came back up, Stephen shook the water from his face so he could shoot Tony the dirtiest look he could manage. The other boy, however, was smiling broadly.

“Wait,” Caitlin called from her hiding spot. “What does this mean?”

“It’s a draw,” Owen declared, vacating his post. “Time to get the grill going.”

“And murder Tony,” Stephen added as he lunged forward, seizing Tony’s shoulders and forcing him back under water.

Thanks to Owen forgetting to turn the filters off, the current of the river started moving Tony and Stephen away from their initial entry point as they continued to try and tackle each other. They were on the far side of the park before they knew it, laughing and splashing each other like little kids.

In a show of force, Tony grabbed Stephen’s wrists and pinned his arms down while crowding against him, forcing him back against the wall.

“What are you gonna do now, Steph?” Tony challenged, but still with a grin on his perfect lips.

Stephen swallowed hard. He could think of one thing he really wanted to do. And this was the perfect situation to do it in. Minus the fact that it was literally the last day of summer, and Tony would be leaving in the morning to head back to New York to get ready to drive all the way back to Boston for college. Not the best system, really, but Tony wasn’t known for his ability to plan ahead when it came to things like that.

As Stephen stared at him, Tony released his wrists, but didn’t move his hands. They brushed together in the flow of the water while they stayed standing impossibly close.

And then, as if on cue, a stray tube bumped into them, effectively ruining the moment.

“I’m, uh,” Stephen said, coughing to clear his throat. “I’m gonna hop on this tube and high tail it out of here to beat you to the cheeseburgers.”

Stephen did just that. Or rather, attempted to. Tony latched onto his leg at the last second, and let the taller boy’s momentum pull him back behind the tube. During that time, Stephen leaned back and stared up at the still blue sky, trying to settle his breathing so it wasn’t obvious how flustered he had just been.

He couldn’t see that Tony was doing the same.

The rest of the party, they kept looking at each other like lovesick teenagers. Which, techncially, they were. For a few more months, away, until they turned twenty.

But at that point, they were still lovesick.

“Are you going to tell them, or am I?” Caitlin asked, lightly kicking Owen’s foot under the table as they watched the pair of boys over on the reclining chairs.

Owen smiled. “They’ll figure it out.”

Caitlin breathed a laugh. “Like we did?”

“Yeah,” Owen said, turning to her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Like we did.”

Twelve or so hours later, Stephen and Tony were standing in the sand on the beach between their houses. Stephen had spent one last night at the Stark’s house after the party, where they stayed up way too late playing video games and watching the same movies they had watched all summer.

But now it was time to say goodbye.

“Try not to miss me too much,” Stephen teased, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

Tony smiled. “I won’t if you let me come visit you.”

“All the way in Baltimore?” Stephen asked. Tony nodded. “You’ve got a deal, Stark.”

“I don’t usually go home for long during breaks, so I’ll be in Boston when you’re home,” Tony added. “No reason we have to wait until next summer to hang out again.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Tony leaned in, initiating the hug that followed. “Please do, Steph.”

It took all of his willpower not to turn around and watch Tony walk back to his house. Stephen knew it would likely stung to have to do that, so he was able to spare himself.

_Besides_ , Stephen thought,  _we’ll see each other before next summer anyway_ .

That’s what he sincerely believed.

But he was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For clarity - I've decided that while Tony still goes to MIT in this story, Stephen attends Johns Hopkins. Not sure of the thought process other than distance between them while at school, but that's what I've arrived at.


	6. Chapter 6

The third summer, Stephen was back to wanting nothing to do with Tony.

Not only did they not see each other during the school year, but by mid October, they had stopped talking altogether.

At the beginning, they texted every single day. Basically all day, except for when they were in classes. And even then they would still talk. They FaceTimed more often than not, and even sent each other projects they were working on for the other to check out.

It may have sounded silly, but Stephen didn’t feel alone at college again because he had Tony to talk to. Doing so helped him feel more confident and come out of his shell, and resulted in him actually making a couple friends. Well, really just classmates he sometimes studied and ate meals with, but progress was progress.

Until it wasn’t.

Initially, Tony was going to go visit Stephen at Johns Hopkins during Columbus Day weekend. But of course, a hurricane just had to sweep its way up the east coast. People evacuating in every direction clogged up every major highway and sold out flights, making it impossible for Tony to reach Baltimore.

They said they would figure out another weekend. But they didn’t. Two weeks later, Tony stopped texting Stephen back. His calls went unanswered. First for a couple days, then a week. Then three. Then a month.

It made him feel like a stalker, but Stephen scoured Tony’s social media for any indication as to what was going on, but there wasn’t any. No activity at all, which was unusual for the tech genius. Stephen went home for Thanksgiving, hoping that Tony’s car would be parked outside the Stark mansion and he could get an explanation. But the house was completely dark and silent.

The same held true for Christmas break.

Stephen started to withdraw back into himself quickly. He was trying to figure out what he had done wrong, because it must have been something to get Tony to cut ties like this. But he couldn’t think of anything, and obsessing over it made everything else worse.

Especially when he saw the photos and videos Tony was tagged in online.

Checking there had never occurred to Stephen. He clicked on that portion of Tony’s page by accident. His screen was immediately flooded with images of Tony at crowded parties, almost always with a cup or bottle in his hand. When there wasn’t, it was because he was busying his hands otherwise, usually putting them all over whoever he was dancing or making out with.

There was no logical reason for why Stephen went through them all. Each one sent another stabbing pain to his stomach, and yet he couldn’t stop. He stayed up all night, scrolling through everything he could find, until he eventually threw his phone against the wall and cried himself to sleep.

At twenty years old, he was alone in his dorm, crying himself to sleep over a boy he had never even dated. Never even told how he felt.

The next morning, he wasn’t surprised to find that his phone was cracked. But he was surprised to find that all of those photos and videos were now gone. Had he just imagined all of it? Was it a bad dream?

His cracked screen told him differently. Tony just had the power to get rid of them.

By the time he was home for the summer, Stephen had made up his mind. The first thing he did was call Owen.

“Stranger! what can I do for ya?” the park manager greeted.

“Hey, Owen,” Stephen replied, trying to keep the misery out of voice. “I was actually, uh, hoping for a favor.”

“Of course. What’s up kid?”

“I need to work reduced hours at the park this summer,” Stephen explained. “Studying for med school and all that. So can I only do two days a week?”

There was a slight pause on the other end. “Yeah, yeah whatever you need.” It was obvious Owen didn’t believe him. “Anything I can do to help.”

“And could you...put me on the opposite schedule as Tony?” Stephen asked. “I’ll come in the two days he’s off. If that works.”

“Something going on I should know about?” Owen inquired.

“No,” Stephen answered too quickly. “It’s nothing bad. I just – if you can make it work, I would really appreciate it.”

Owen decided anything further wasn’t a discussion they should be having over the phone. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do. We’ve gotta have everyone for opening day, though, for orientation. You know how Caitlin is about rules and training and blah blah blah.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s fine. Thanks, Owen.”

“Sure thing.”

That was something he could handle. He had two weeks to prepare himself for it, at any rate. And then just one day at the park with Tony, and the rest of the summer avoiding him.

Piece of cake.

Which he kept telling himself, right up to the night before opening day of the park when Tony showed up at the back door of his house.

The knock was so soft that Stephen wouldn’t have heard it except for the fact that he was in the kitchen at the time. At first he thought maybe it was just the wind, until it came again. Stephen pulled the back door open slowly to reveal Tony on the other side of the screen, standing on the porch looking like a lost little kid.

“Hey.”

Stephen had to swallow before he could reply. “Hey.”

Tony shuffled his feet awkwardly. “Sorry, I know it’s late. I just got in. I wanted to, uh – can we talk?”

“My parents are asleep.”

“Oh,” Tony whispered. “Right. Sorry.”

But before he could turn to walk away, Stephen relented. He wasn’t sure if it was the look in Tony’s eyes, or the way his hands were shoved into the pockets of his jeans, or how his hair was just long enough that it started to curl around his ears and the back of his neck. Whatever it was, it made Stephen push the screen door open, forcing Tony to take a few steps back so Stephen could come out onto the porch.

Wordlessly, he walked across the porch to the stairs leading down to the sand. Tony followed him to the other side of the nearest dune, where wooden Adirondack chairs sat facing the black expanse of the ocean. Stephen slid into one, and watched as Tony sat perched on the edge of the other, clearly uneasy.

“I’m sorry I’m showing up like this,” he said again. “But I didn’t want to just go to work tomorrow and act like nothing is wrong. To just go radio silent on you was...god, that was so fucked up. I just, uh, I’ve had a bad year.”

Stephen felt his anger start to soften at the clear despair radiating off Tony. Unshed tears were shining in his eyes, and he was obviously getting choked up.

“What’s going on?” Stephen asked softly.

Tony looked down at the sand beneath his Nikes for a second before looking back up at Stephen. The pain was evident, and it broke Stephen’s heart.

“Jarvis passed away.”

It was said so quietly that Stephen almost hadn’t heard him over the wind and the crash of the waves. He was hoping he had misheard, but the tears starting to roll down Tony’s cheeks told him otherwise.

“Tony,” Stephen breathed. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“Cancer. He got really sick really fast and then he – he was gone. He didn’t tell anyone at first. And by the time I found out, he made me promise not to come home from school. Made me swear up and down. He promised he was fine, that he was going to be fine. Then he was rushed to the hospital one night, and that was it. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

The silence that followed was heavier than if they had been buried under the dune behind them. Stephen watched helplessly as Tony forced himself to take deep breaths before he was able to say anything more.

“We went to London for the funeral. I don’t know what happened to me, Stephen, I really don’t. I just got...stuck, I guess. It was awful. All I wanted to do was call you, talk to you, come see you. But I couldn’t. It was like I was too sad to function, and the longer I went without reaching out, the harder it got. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but -”

“It does,” Stephen interjected gently. “Believe me. I get it.”

“But it doesn’t excuse just ignoring you like that. And the worse it got, the more I thought it needed to be in person so you could see how sorry I am.”

In that moment, Stephen made a decision. Maybe the easiest he had ever made, when he thought about it.

“It’s okay, Tony,” he said sincerely. “I understand what it’s like to lose someone. And Jarvis was like a second father to you. I can’t imagine...” he trailed off, not wanting to dredge up any additional turmoil for Tony.

A heavy sigh came from the young man next to him. “It wasn’t just that that kept me from calling you. It was all the dumb shit I’ve done since.” He shook his head slowly and looked away again. “I’ve acted like a total jackass.”

“You were in pain. You _are_ in pain.”

Tony sniffed. “I drank. A lot. Too much, really. Rhodey had to babysit me far too many times. It got to the point where he threatened to call my parents and have me sent to rehab. I just...” he swallowed hard, but still couldn’t get rid of the lump in his throat. “I couldn’t get it to stop.”

Stephen didn’t have to ask what Tony meant. He knew, all too well, how crippling grief can be. Without thinking, he reached over and put his hand over Tony’s, squeezing reassuringly. Tony looked down at their hands for a second before looking up and meeting Stephen’s eyes.

“I forgive you.”

The words were out of his mouth before he could even consider them. Words that he had wished someone had said to him for the last seven years. Words he knew wouldn’t fix everything for Tony, but would maybe help him get back on the right track.

Tony choked down a sob. “You don’t know what I’ve done.”

“You’ve done what you could,” Stephen replied. “After losing one of the most important people in your life, that’s all you could do. I don’t care about the details. They don’t matter.”

“I don’t expect things to just be fine with us,” Tony said, chewing his lip. “I know that I have to make it up to you, that I -”

“You don’t,” Stephen disagreed. “I’ll admit that I was hurt. I thought I did something wrong, or that you just got sick of talking to me all the time. But now that I know what you’ve been going through, I’m not angry at you. I’m just sorry, that I didn’t figure it out and do what I could to be there for you.”

Tony shook his head furiously. “No, no. This isn’t on you. It’s my fault.”

Stephen smiled warmly. “I still forgive you.”

A breathless laugh escaped Tony’s lungs. “I almost didn’t come here for the summer,” he admitted. Stephen’s hand moved away as he said it, making Tony wish he could take it back. “I knew that if you hated me again, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Not that me spiraling out of control again would have been your fault. Obviously. Just...fuck. There’s no way I could be here all summer without you.”

“Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to be.”

The same feeling that had been there at the end of last summer in the lazy river threatened to overwhelm Tony again. He wanted to lean forward, put his hands in Stephen’s hair, and kiss him senseless.

But he couldn’t. Not yet, at least. There’s no way it was the right time. Not after the way he acted.

“You have no idea how much that means to me,” Tony said instead. As another silence threatened to settle, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So, tell me everything. How was school?”

For the rest of the night, Stephen found himself telling Tony the few things of note from the last several months. He was able to circumvent the loneliness and borderline depression he had felt at their lack of communication, which he now knew was nothing compared to what Tony had gone through.

While he rambled on about papers and projects and internships, Stephen saw Tony lean back in his chair, finally relaxing. He smiled as he listened, asking the necessary follow up questions and showing genuine interest in what had been going on in Stephen’s life.

At the end of it all, they were both silently overjoyed that the distance between them melted away with the darkness of the night. As the sun started to come up, it felt like it was just last night that they had been chasing each other with water guns around the park.

The beach was fully bathed in morning light before either of them realized they had stayed up the entire night talking. Laughing about how it wasn’t the first all-nighter either of them had pulled, they each went back to their respective houses to change and grab their stuff for work prior to Tony picking Stephen up.

Just like usual.

Unbeknownst to the pair, Owen was watching everyone arrive from the overhanging deck of his apartment, smiling like an idiot at the sight he wasn’t in the least surprised to see.

The first meeting of the season ran smoothly, as it always did, because Caitlin was in charge. As everyone started to file out to get to work opening the park, Stephen hung back, grabbing Owen and pulling him to the side.

“Hey, what I said about changing my schedule, I actually -”

“Yeah, I know,” Owen said with a smirk. “Don’t worry. I never changed anything.”

Stephen blinked. “You didn’t? Why not?”

“Well, you see,” Owen said dramatically, slinging an arm around Stephen’s shoulders. “What you asked me to do is what we adults call a rash decision. I’m well versed in them, having made about eighty-five thousand in my life. So I knew to hold off on your leap before you look mentality until you had a beat to really think about it.”

“I thought about it for weeks,” Stephen muttered, but his smile betrayed him. “Am I that obvious?”

Owen released him to head for the door. “No more so than Stark is.”

Stephen chuckled at that. But when it dawned on him what Owen meant, the older man was long gone, leaving Stephen to stand stunned by himself.

_No more so than Stark is_ .

That couldn’t mean what Stephen thought it did. What Stephen wished it did. It was just Owen being Owen, joking around and saying things that no one could ever decipher.

Right?

For the rest of that day, Stephen couldn’t stop thinking about it. About the night Tony had pulled him from the ocean and let him sleep in his bed. Let him sleep  _against_ him all night. That moment in the lazy river when Stephen had been sure the tension between them was going to stop his heart. 

Speaking of – while Stephen was lost in thought, sitting at the bottom of on of the slides and making sure everyone who came down got out okay, Tony suddenly shot into view. He spun around on the tube he was on, smiling widely, water clinging to his bare chest. He rolled off the tube into the water for a moment before popping back up, running his hands through his hair and making it look perfectly tousled. Stephen watched, mouth suddenly dry, as Tony ascended the stairs, his baby blue bathing suit sticking to his legs and his...other parts of his body in that general area.

Thankfully, Stephen was wearing sunglasses, so it wasn’t obvious that he had been gawking at Tony’s groin and ass. He felt his own bathing suit getting a bit too tight, and pulled a towel onto his lap at the last second as Tony walked up to him.

“The slides are for paying customers only, Stark,” he managed to say in an even voice.

Tony grinned down at him. “Lost a bet with Owen. So I’ve gotta go get pizzas for everyone for lunch. Feel like giving me a hand?”

_I’m the one who could use your hand_ .

“You’re so high maintenance,” Stephen grumbled as he got to his feet and followed Tony, sure to stay behind him for as long as he could.

Okay, so apparently, Stephen had it worse for Tony than he initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Tony cutting Stephen off like that is definitely out of character already, I did it to show just how devastated he was by Jarvis's death. Even though he only showed up here briefly, there's never been any denying the impact that man had on Tony, in any universe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short little chapter - but tomorrow I'll be posting two. Late morning and then later at night.
> 
> Enjoy!

The police paid Tony a visit the next day.

He was walking to his car with Stephen at the end of the day, the pair arguing about which movies they were going to watch later when Tony noticed the cruiser blocking his Audi in.

“Fuck.”

Stephen’s face fell at Tony’s sudden change in demeanor. He followed his friend’s gaze to the two police officers circling Tony’s car like hungry sharks.

“What’s going on?” Stephen asked, but Tony didn’t have a chance to answer.

The officers had noticed them, noticed Tony, and came around the car to stand between them and the vehicle.

“Something I can help you with, officers?” Tony asked, fighting down the urge to sound sarcastic.

He had learned his lesson about doing that already.

“You can hand over the keys,” one of the officers replied, “let us take a look inside your car.”

Tony shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

The name tag confirmed what Tony already knew was the case. **Donovan.** Either the brother or cousin of the trooper in Boston who wasn’t exactly Tony’s biggest fan. He had really hoped all that was behind him, but it had followed him down here.

“I wasn’t asking,” Donovan said. 

“Well that would imply that you’ve got a search warrant.” Tony and Stephen turned to see Owen appear, coming to stand between the and the officers. He stuck his hand out to Donovan, who shook it reluctantly. “Nice to see you, Sean. How’s the family?”

“Fine,” Donovan replied flatly. “I’m concerned about your employee here.”

“Strange?” Owen scoffed. “I know the name is deceiving, but you don’t need to worry about him.”

Donovan rolled his eyes. “No, the drug dealer he’s hanging out with.”

“I’m not a -” Tony started, but stopped when Owen stepped directly in front of him.

“I think we’ve just got a bit of a misunderstanding here,” Owen said cordially. “But unless you’ve got a warrant, or some concrete reason to believe the kid here did anything wrong, I’m going to ask that you let them be on their way.”

This was definitely a new side to Owen that neither Stephen nor Tony had even seen. He was speaking professionally, politely, even, but also leaving no question that he wasn’t going to fold.

“Why don’t you ask him about the cocaine habit he picked up in Boston?” Donovan asked.

Stephen looked over at Tony, whose eyes were suddenly trained on his shoes.

Owen wasn’t deterred. “Well, luckily, this isn’t Boston,” he retorted. “So if there’s nothing else I can do for you, have a safe night, officers.”

Reluctantly, and only after giving Tony the dirtiest looks they could manage, Donovan and his nameless partner got back in their cruiser and left. It wasn’t until they were around the corner out of the park and out of eyesight that Owen turned to Tony and Stephen.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, eyes still anywhere but on Owen and Stephen. “I -”

“It’s alright,” Owen said, cutting him off. “We can talk tomorrow, yeah?” Tony nodded weakly. “Why don’t you guys head out? I don’t think they’ll give you any more trouble, but stay five under the speed limit for me anyway okay?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, sounding totally defeated. “Thank you, Owen.”

It wasn’t until they had pulled into Stephen’s driveway and Tony killed the engine that he spoke again. He didn’t look over at Stephen once during the drive back, and still kept his eyes straight ahead.

“I was going to tell you,” he said softly. “But I didn’t know how.”

Stephen wasn’t quite sure what Tony meant. It seemed obvious that he had gotten into some trouble in Boston, but what exactly happened was still up in the air.

“I’m a little lost,” Stephen admitted.

Tony sighed heavily. “It was stupid. I know that. I was struggling with pretty much everything after Jarvis died. It was only a few times, I swear. I didn’t even like it. But I used it a couple times to stay awake because I fell behind on some projects and needed to catch up.  My Adderall wasn’t cutting it anymore. ”  He closed his eyes and let his head fall back to the seat behind him. Stephen thought that that was going to be it, but then he continued. “ I got pulled over one night for speeding. I was overtired and mouthed off to the cop. He had me get out of the car and searched it. Found a little baggie with some cocaine left in it in my glove compartment.”

“You got arrested?” Stephen asked in disbelief.

Tony nodded once. “The charges were dropped before they had even finished booking me. My dad’s lawyer happened to be in town and came down to the barracks. Talked to the sergeant, who agreed it was an illegal search. Apparently you can’t order someone out of a car and search through it for speeding and being an asshole. But the trooper was pissed, said it was just because of who my dad is. And apparently, his brother or whatever works down here.  So that’s fun. ”

“I, uh,” Stephen stammered. “I don’t know what to say.”

Brown eyes  were finally looking back at him. “I didn’t know how to tell you about it. The cocaine, and the...the other stuff.”

“What other stuff?” Stephen asked hesitantly.

“I was drinking too much,” Tony reiterated again from what he had said the other night. “And it made me do some really dumb shit. I know that’s a cop out, but I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time until I woke up in a random person’s bed and saw all the stuff online from the night before.” He shook his head again. “I was out of control. Drinking and doing cocaine, even just a few times, and sleeping around. I never wanted to be that guy, and then all of a sudden, that’s exactly who I was.”

“No, it’s not,” Stephen disagreed. “It’s who you thought you had to be to deal with your grief.” Tony looked at him as if he had been able to read his mind. “But that doesn’t make it who you are.”

“It’s not who I want to be,” Tony replied. “I swear, I’m doing much better. I was arrested right before spring break. I haven’t touched anything, alcohol especially, since that night. I promise. My dad’s been drug testing me every other day, you can -”

“I believe you.”

Tony caught his breath. “You do?”

“Of course I do. You’ve got no reason to lie to me. I just guess I didn’t realize it got that bad for you. I’m sorry, Tony.”

“I can’t believe you.” Tony’s words made Stephen frown in confusion, but Tony was smiling slightly. “I don’t understand why you’re friends with me.”

Stephen huffed. “I could say the same thing to you.”

“So you, uh, you still want to hang out with me?” Tony asked, sounding more nervous than Stephen had ever heard him before.

“Nah,” he replied sarcastically. “I’ll just sit inside by myself all summer. Sounds like a better option.”

“Asshole,” Tony laughed.

“Douchebag.”

Tony smirked. “See you in an hour for pizza?”

“Deal.”

Without meaning to, Tony watched Stephen climb the steps on the side of the driveway and disappear into his house. He felt fondness sweep over him. He had already been aware of the fact that he was lucky to have met Stephen, but now he was beyond grateful for him.

Which was something he was going to have to figure out how to convey to Stephen.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet here, then a longer and more substantial chapter later tonight =)

“I have an idea, but you can’t tell Rhodey.”

Stephen had to crane his neck to see Tony. They were floating on rafts in the latter’s pool, despite the fact that it was barely hot enough out to warrant swimming. But of course, the Starks had a heated pool, which made it tolerable in the overcast weather.

“Why do I have a feeling that I don’t want to agree until you say more?” Stephen asked.

“When have I ever lead you astray?” Before Stephen could reply, Tony was paddling over and bumping his raft into Stephen’s. “The drive-ins are open.”

“What’s playing?”

“Back to the Future and The Goonies.”

“Sold.”

Tony grinned. “Knew I could count on you.”

“Why can’t we tell Rhodey?”

“Because he’ll be jealous. We’ll go again when he’s here in a couple weeks, so just act like it’s the first time this summer.”

Stephen nodded dramatically. “Gotcha.”

The setup this time around was slightly different. The weather was much cooler, and it had started to sprinkle light rain when they arrived. So instead of utilizing bean bag chairs outside of the car, they folded the seats down again and stuffed the back with pillows and blankets, turning the back of Tony’s car into the perfect movie nook. They propped themselves up and settled in side by side after lining the sides of the trunk with their snacks and drinks.

All through the first movie, Stephen couldn’t keep his mind from running all over the place. He felt completely calm and comfortable while at the same time being acutely aware of every little movement Tony made next to him. The paradox was starting to drive him insane, and was only made worse during the intermission when the rain started to fall a bit harder and further lower the temperature.

The chill prompted Tony to pull yet another blanket from the front seat and spread it over the both of them. Stephen watched this in near awe. When Tony laid back down, their legs were pressed together from the knee to the hip. Neither of them made a move to separate.

Even though they had been watching a movie, Tony was unusually quiet. He had been for most of the day, and seemed a bit out of it despite his enthusiasm to come to the drive-ins. Before the next movie started, Stephen studied him for a moment before deciding to speak up.

“Are you alright?” he asked, breaking the silence.

Tony tugged on the blanket a bit. “Yeah, this is better. Are you still cold? Or too warm?”

“I don’t mean the blanket, Tony,” Stephen said with a small smile. “You just seem kind of...I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Tony replied lamely. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Stephen said quickly. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Tony nodded slightly. “I am. It’s just so weird without Jarvis. At school it was less obvious because he was never there with me. But being here...his absence is so clear every day.”

Stephen sighed without meaning to. “That’s the hardest part,” he said before he could stop himself.

“Does it ever get any easier?” Tony asked.

“I don’t know if easier is the right word,” Stephen answered honestly. “It does hurt less, after a while. Or hurts differently is probably more accurate. Fuck. Sorry. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear right now.”

Tony shook his head. “No, actually, it is. Because it’s the truth. Sometimes it feels like I’m being silly and overreacting.”

Stephen shifted so he was looking at Tony more straight on. “Of course you’re not. You lost someone you loved. There’s no such thing as overreacting. And with it happening so suddenly how you feel is only natural.”

“I really wish I hadn’t listened to him and had come home from school to see him one last time.”

“What would you have said to him?”

Tony started answering before Stephen had a chance to regret asking the question. “I would have thanked him. For always being there for me, and being all the things my dad can’t be. I would have made sure he knew I learned more from him than he realizes, and I’m going to do everything I can the rest of my life to make him proud.” He swallowed thickly. “I would have told him how much I loved him, and that I’ll miss him like crazy.”

“I think he knew all that.” Tony gave Stephen a questioning look. “You can just tell, the way you guys were around each other. He treated you like his own kid. And he was even smarter than you are. So I think he knew.”

Through the tears in his eyes, Tony smiled. The next movie began, and he decided it was a good place to leave that conversation. So he ran his right hand through his hair before stretching out slightly and resting it on the folded back headrest right behind Stephen.

Technically, his arm wasn’t _around_ Stephen. It was more up and behind him. But if Stephen shifted just so to his left, he would basically be secured against Tony. He waited a half hour, and then casually asked Tony to pass him the Junior Mints. Tony sat up to grab them, and Stephen leaned forward a bit with him. When Tony handed them over and laid back down, Stephen did the same, but this time just that much closer to Tony that they were all but cuddling.

Which was just fine by the both of them.


	9. Chapter 9

In retrospect, Stephen wasn’t sure why he had agreed to this.

Well, that wasn’t true. He had agreed because it was Tony who had asked. Otherwise, there’s no way he would have come out to the town’s dive bar just two days before the Fourth of July when it was overrun with tourists. But a few people from the park were coming to see some local band play, and Tony sounded excited right away. So of course he had said he was going when Tony asked him.

They hadn’t come together. Tony was having dinner with his parents and some family friend before, but promised to meet Stephen here at nine. Which it was now ten past, and no signs of the brunet were to be found. Stephen was standing awkwardly just inside the door by the bar, where he saw Owen, Caitlin and a few others towards the middle. When Owen finally looked up and spotted him, he immediately started waving him over. Stephen went reluctantly, but his desire to not be standing by himself was outweighed by not wanting to barge in on a group.

“Hey Stranger,” Owen greeted, clearly never tiring of the joke. “Look at you, spreading your wings and coming out after hours with other people.” Stephen rolled his eyes, and Owen earned a swat from Caitlin for his trouble. But Stephen knew it was how Owen showed affection and never took it personally. “Where’s Tony?” he asked, innocently enough.

Stephen shrugged, hoping to look casual. “Not sure. He said he was going to be here at nine after dinner with his parents. He’s probably running late.”

Owen took a sip from his beer to hide his smirk. Stephen wouldn’t have noticed anyway; he had turned away to get a water from the bartender. He was still facing that way when the band started to come out on the small stage at the back of the bar to their already set up instruments. Someone was making introductions and an announcement, but Stephen couldn’t be bothered to listen. He received his bottle of water as the music began, and almost dropped it when he turned around and saw who was now standing at the microphone front and center, a guitar slung around his shoulders.

The cheers that had sprung up died down, letting the music take over. Stephen stared open mouthed at Tony as he lead the group with his guitar. He was wearing a plain black v-neck t shirt and dark jeans, but nonetheless looked like a rock star with his perfectly messy hair and bright smile.

And then he started singing, and Stephen was sure he was going to pass out at any second.

_We were leaning on a one night stand_

_I was keeping up when no one cared_

_I was leaving you alone but still_

_I was hoping you were some place near_

_Cause if given just another chance_

_I would do it all again_

_And I would take my sweet, damn time_

_So long as I can call him mine_

Tony’s eyes had been scanning the crowd while he sang, and when he finally saw Stephen they stopped, training in on him and smiling through his words.

_Hey, you can call on me_

_If you called on me_

_I’d come running_

_I said hey, you can call on me_

_If you called on me_

_I’d come running_

Nothing else registered to Stephen other than the sight of Tony on the stage. All the people around him fell away, and all he could see was Tony up there. Those brown eyes moved away as he looked down at the guitar he was playing perfectly, but made their way back as he started to sing again, never to leave Stephen’s.

_If you wanted, we could leave this place_

_I’m thinking leave it all behind_

_Oh, I can handle all these things_

_So long as I can call him mine_

_So long as I can call him mine_

_Yeah I would take my sweet, damn time_

While singing those last three lines, Tony’s eyes burned into Stephen’s and his smile was faint, but clearly aimed directly at him.

When the song finally ended, Tony disappeared behind the curtain behind him, leaving Stephen to stare after him and try to keep up with his racing mind.

_He said ‘call **him** mine.’ He looked right at me when he said it. _ Stephen shook his head forcefully.  _That means nothing. He was singing a song. He probably didn’t even write it. Did he write it? Since when can he sing like that? What the hell is going on?_

The last three questions were answered when Tony finally emerged. Before Stephen could get a word in he was swarmed by Owen’s group of friends, who all praised him for his performance. Yes, he wrote the song. He met the drummer of the band last summer and had jumped at the chance to play with them. He’s never sang in front of people before. No, he wasn’t in the band, just having some fun.

Finally, he was able to ease his way through the crowd the last few feet and make it to Stephen, who was looking at him as if Tony had suddenly sprouted a second head.

“Hey,” he said, coming to a stop just a little bit closer to Stephen than normal practice would dictate.

Stephen moved a half step closer still. “That was incredible,” he replied by way of greeting. “I had no idea you could play the guitar. Or sing. Or write songs.”

Tony shrugged. “Just random hobbies. Sorry I’m a little late in meeting you, but wanted that to be a surprise,” he said, jerking his head to where the band was wrapping up another song.

“Well I’m definitely surprised.”

Somehow, Tony’s smile grew. He flagged the bartender down for a water of his own and drank half the bottle in one gulp. Their attention went back to the stage for a few more songs, during which they didn’t quite dance, but more swayed and bobbed next to each other. Stephen had to admit that they were fun to listen to.

A tug at his hand drew his eyes back to Tony.

“Come on,” the shorter man said. “Let’s go outside.”

“We can stay in here if you want,” Stephen offered.

Tony shook his head. “We can still hear them out there.” _And I know you get worn out by stuff like this easily_ went unsaid, but was understood.

Stephen could have kissed Tony for that.

Waving to Owen and Caitlin as they made their way out, they escaped through the open side door to the patio between the building and the parking lot, where they easily found an open table and sat across from one another.

“I’m really happy you came,” Tony said.

“Me too,” Stephen said sincerely. “Who knew stepping out of your comfort zone could be a good thing.”

Tony smiled. “You mean giving in to my peer pressure.”

“Don’t give yourself too much credit, Stark. You’re not as irresistible as you think you are.”

The grin on Tony’s face told Stephen he doubted that statement was true, but didn’t call him out on it. Instead he finished his water and asked after Stephen’s parents, who were away in the Berkshires to celebrate their anniversary.

They sat at the table for close to an hour and talked, enjoying the music coming from the bar, but mainly glad they had some space to themselves. As it got later, though, it got more crowded, and people began spilling outside as the temperature inside rose steadily with the body count.

“Feel like taking a walk?” Tony prompted almost shyly. “I, uh, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Stephen felt his heart skip a beat, but hid it well. “Yeah,” he replied simply, tossing his empty water bottle as he stood up with Tony.

They started walking in the direction of their street. It was roughly a two mile walk, and for the first quarter of it, they were completely silent. Stephen could clearly tell Tony was mulling over his words, so he was content to just walk along in the perfectly cool early summer night and wait patiently.

“Do you remember, two summers ago, when you walked into the locker room when that girl Kara slapped me?” Tony asked suddenly, breaking the stillness that had settled between them.

“Of course,” Stephen replied.

“What she thought of me that day, what everyone tends to think of me, that’s what I did too often these last few months,” Tony said. Stephen frowned in confusion, but kept quiet as they walked. “So you need to know that. I’m not proud of it, and it’s not something I’m going to keep doing. It was part of a long list of mistakes that I’m not going to repeat.”

It wasn’t that Tony’s words didn’t make sense; they did. Stephen just wasn’t quite sure where he was going with it, and only spoke when Tony fell quiet.

“You’re only human,” Stephen pointed out. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself.”

Tony sighed. “Rhodey said that too. But I just – I want to be honest with you. I don’t want to do anything else to push you away. When all of this was going on, it made me realize how much I missed you. But I didn’t feel like I deserved to talk to you after the way I just cut you out completely. I don’t know why I did it. I lost control.”

“Which I’ve forgiven you for,” Stephen added. “I’m not going to hold any of this against you, if that’s what you’re worried about. None of it changes how I fe – think about you.”

“I know,” Tony said, waving his hands around as he spoke in his usual manner. “And I’m so grateful for that. For you. Outside of Rhodey, I don’t have anyone like you in my life. I don’t think I ever will, and that’s why I was so scared I fucked it all up.”

“You didn’t.”

Silence fell between them again as they veered off the sidewalk and headed towards the stretch of beach that would bring them to their houses. They walked down by the water, where the sand was hard and didn’t get in their shoes. It was low tide so the gentle waves weren’t a threat to them, but still provided a calming soundtrack to their walk.

Stephen’s house had just come into view down the empty stretch of the beach up and to their left when Tony started talking again.

“I just don’t want to do anything to ruin this,” he said quietly. “But I also don’t want to keep pretending that I don’t think about it every single day and go crazy wanting to do something about it.”

“About what?” Stephen asked. He came to a stop and turned to face Tony, who looked up at him almost pleadingly. “Tony, what are you trying to say?”

Tony swallowed and looked down. “That’s my problem,” he said with a humorless laugh. “I have such a hard time articulating things. So I, uh, I wrote this. For you.” He pulled folded sheets of paper from his back pocket and held it tightly in his slightly shaking hand. “I started it last year, the night I got home from here. Then I kept adding to it, telling myself I was finally going to send it to you. But obviously never did.”

Stephen stared down at the papers in Tony’s hand, only taking it when Tony moved his arm out to hand it over. Their fingers brushed together as the exchange was made. He looked at Tony as he took possession, but the shorter young man was watching Stephen’s hands.

He unfolded the papers carefully; there were two pressed together. Smaller than normal sized notebook paper. It was clear that they had been creased over and over again several times. The moon was high above them and full, bright enough to give plenty of light for Stephen to read by. He recognized Tony’s neat, small handwriting easily.

With a deep breath he hid from Tony, he began reading.

_Stephen,_

_I want to start off by saying that I recognize this is a dick move. I just don’t see many other options. This is the best shot I have at not fucking this up. Which I’ll probably do anyway. But I’ve already started, so why not see where this goes?_

_I have a feeling you already know this, but I almost kissed you in the lazy river. That night I was kicking myself for not doing it, but now I’m glad I didn’t. Because it would have given you the wrong impression, and I really don’t want that._

_Going back to the beginning is probably the best idea, but I honestly don’t know where to start. It wasn’t that first summer, that’s for sure. And that’s okay. I love that we didn’t have the best start but were able to become so close. I love that we’re friends_

The sentence ended there. A skipped line down began a new train of thought, this time in slightly darker ink, telling Stephen it was written with a different pen.

_So, obviously, I’m not very good at this. And I don’t want to keep rambling on and on and waste your time. I just have no idea how to say all the things that have been building up in my head for the last three months. I don’t know how to tell you that you’re the best part of every day, or that I wish I could follow you around at all times so I never miss it when you smile. There’s no way for me to explain to you that the second you leave, I’m thinking about you. Because that’s a little creepy, even though I don’t mean it that way._

In spite of the lump of emotion in his throat, Stephen chuckled ever so slightly. The writing broke again as Stephen turned to the last side of the last page.

_Your friendship means more to me than you will ever know. So whatever I decide to do, whatever I decide to tell you, please try and keep that in mind. I’m not out to ruin anything or make you hate me. That’s the last thing I would ever want. But the possibility of there being anything else between us has kept me up for too many nights to ignore anymore. I know it’s selfish. It’s me, after all. But in all fairness, this is really all your fault._

The letter ended with about a fourth of the page being blank. Stephen read the last paragraph over again to try and buy himself some time and figure out what to say. He wouldn’t let himself believe that he understood what this meant, what Tony was trying so hard to convey.

Because it was too good to be true, and if he was wrong, he was fairly certain it would kill him.

When it was obvious he was done, he carefully folded the pages back together and slid it into the pocket of his shorts due to his fear that he would drop them to the wet sand. He finally had to look up and meet Tony’s eyes, which were so dark in the night around them Stephen couldn’t make out the honey hues throughout the irises.

“I didn’t want to put the last part in writing,” Tony said, his voice low and calm. “I took the easy way out up until this point, but I need to do this right.”

Even if Stephen had had any air in his lungs, he didn’t think he would have been able to come up with the right words to respond. The air seemed to stand still around them, and the sound of the ocean was muted. It was just the two of them, standing under the moon in the sand, so close Stephen could count Tony’s eyelashes if he really wanted to.

Which, he sort of did. Just not right now. Because Tony was opening his mouth to speak again, and Stephen had the feeling he was going to want to pay attention.

“I know that we’ll always be friends. Or hope so, at least. But I – I’m falling in love with you, Stephen.”

Euphoria swept over Stephen so strongly that he felt instantly dizzy. Somehow, some way, he was able to respond in kind.

“I’ve been falling for you for a while, Tony. For so long.”

There was no more discussion needed. Tony took a step forward, closing the gap between them swiftly. His left hand reached up and gently cupped the back of Stephen’s neck, pulling him forward until their lips finally met.

Stephen’s hands settled onto Tony’s hips instantly, tugging on him until their bodies were flush together. Tony’s other hand twisted into Stephen’s shirt right at his rib cage to hold him in place.

The feeling of Tony’s tongue slowly swiping against his bottom lip made Stephen’s heart jump. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that he had never kissed anyone before. He would have cut off his left hand to keep Tony from realizing that fact. But just as quickly as it rose, his anxiety washed away when he opened his mouth and flicked his tongue out to slide against Tony’s.

Letting Tony lead was a no-brainer. Their lips moved perfectly together as the kiss deepened. The feel of Tony’s fingers sifting into his hair gave Stephen the confidence to be more adventurous and explore Tony’s mouth, attempting to map it with his tongue. Tony was more than willing to allow him access, and matched his movements in a way that made a shudder run through Stephen’s entire body.

Their lungs screaming at them for the proper amount of air was the only thing that made them break apart, but not that far. Tony kept his hand in Stephen’s hair, and the taller of the pair didn’t release Tony’s hips from his firm grip. After only a few seconds, Tony was leaning in again, brushing his lips lightly over Stephen’s before sealing them together again.

This time, it was the loud crack of fireworks that made them break apart with their hearts racing even faster than they already had been. They looked at each other in surprise for a moment before they both started laughing.

“Is it weird that I wished we had done this sooner but also think this is perfect timing?” Tony asked right against Stephen’s ear. He pulled the taller man tighter against him, looping one arm behind his neck and the other around his waist.

Stephen shook his head, smiling at the way Tony’s hair tickled his nose. “No,” he sighed happily. “I couldn’t agree more.”

As much as they both would have loved to stand there together all night, the results of the day caught up with them quickly. They had worked all day in the strong sun, and that added to the emotions of the last half hour or so left them both feeling overly happy, but also suddenly very tired.

Making the executive decision, Stephen moved a hand behind his own back to lace his fingers together with Tony’s. “Do you, uh, do you want to sleep over tonight?” he asked.

Tony moved back to look at Stephen with the sweetest smile he had ever seen. “God, you’re so fucking cute,” he breathed before kissing Stephen again. “Of course I do.”

They walked up to Stephen’s house hand in hand. Tony kept brushing his thumb over the back of Stephen’s hand, which had the desired effect of keeping Stephen grounded. Once inside, they went straight upstairs to Stephen’s room, where they sat on the double bed that was about half the size of Tony’s and looked at each other with goofy smiles on their faces.

Pure happiness overcame Stephen’s anxiety and nervousness at the newness of his situation, allowing him to move in and kiss Tony again. Finally having the ability to do this was both exhilarating and calming in a way he would have never thought possible. And Tony knew him so, so well. He knew about Stephen’s insecurities and was determined never to allow them to take over. So he kissed Stephen slowly, a hand on his knee, without trying to make it into anything more. They kicked off their shoes and slowly laid down, lips still locked as they made out, Stephen pulling Tony down half on top of him.

Despite being completely wrapped up in kissing Stephen soundly, Tony noted the slight tremble in his hands as they rested on his waist. He broke the kiss slowly, running his tongue over his bottom lip to chase the taste of Stephen that lingered there. Then he propped himself up more so he could look down into the gray-blue eyes below him.

“Do you want me to sleep on the floor?” he asked.

Stephen started to shake his head before Tony had even finished speaking. “No,” he said quickly. “I don’t. I just...”

“I know,” Tony said softly. He moved his hand to brush through Stephen’s short curls and smiled down at him before kissing his forehead, his cheek, his jaw. “I know, Steph.”

A shaky breath fluttered from Stephen’s lungs. He didn’t know how Tony knew what he meant without having said it, but of course he had. He knew Stephen wanted to sleep with Tony, but wasn’t ready to _sleep_ with him. Not yet. He wanted to, of course. Had thought about it so many times. But that didn’t translate to having the confidence and ability to accomplish it after such an emotional day already.

But that didn’t mean he wanted to stop kissing Tony.

He leaned up, capturing his lips again and licking into Tony’s mouth slowly. The brunet above him responded immediately, more than happy to kiss Stephen back. But after a few moments, when they broke apart again, Tony just had to be sure.

“Is this okay?” he breathed, his eyes taking a second to open after the kiss. “We don’t – if it’s too fast -”

“This is more than okay,” Stephen assured him with a smile. “This is perfect, Tony. But you don’t have to sleep with your jeans on.”

Taking the hint, Tony rolled away from Stephen and onto his back, unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them off while Stephen did the same with his shorts, shedding down to their boxers. Tony tossed his pants to the floor while Stephen got off the bed to go over to his dresser and change out of his button down and into a t shirt. He returned to the bed, pulling the covers back before sliding in next to Tony, who waited for Stephen to be the one to reach out to him.

Which he did immediately. His hand once again sought out Tony’s hip, where he felt the soft fabric of his black boxers under his fingers. Stephen let his leg stretch between Tony’s while they laid there, looking at each other with their heads resting on the cool pillows. Even though they were tired, neither of them seemed ready to close their eyes just yet.

“When did you know?”

Stephen barely recognized his own voice. It was soft and laced with utter joy, breathy and light unlike his usual deep baritone. The question brought a smile to Tony’s lips. He moved his right hand to trace over Stephen’s fingers against his side.

“At the drive-ins,” he responded. _Oh,_ Stephen thought. _Okay, so not quite as long as me, but it- “_ The first time. When we went with Rhodey,” Tony clarified.

“Really?”

Tony shrugged slightly. “I already knew I had a crush on you. Working with you every day accomplished that really fast. But that day...I don’t know what it was. When Rhodey had the idea, the first thing I thought of was asking you to come with us. That night I realized it was turning into more than a crush. What about you?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was the exact same for me?” Tony breathed a short laugh. “I swear. We were sitting so close, and our legs kept touching and I just had that same feeling, that it was more than just a crush and it was only going to get stronger.”

“I wanted to tell you that night – when you went into the ocean,” Tony admitted quietly. “But I didn’t want to overwhelm you, or make you think I was only saying it to make you feel better.”

Stephen turned his hand so his palm was against Tony’s. “I don’t think you would ever lie to me.”

Tony swallowed hard. “Even though I have?”

“Not telling me things isn’t the same as lying,” Stephen disagreed. “You’ve been honest in every way that you could. Letting everything out the second it happens isn’t possible. I know that. I know what it’s like.”

As soon as Stephen had stopped speaking, Tony couldn’t stop himself from moving forward and kissing him again. Stephen shifted closer, his hand snaking to the small of Tony’s back to leverage himself against the other man. They kissed slowly, but deeply, savoring every second of closeness.

When they broke apart, they talked and laughed a bit more before they ended up kissing again. It went on like that well into the night, before they finally started to fall quiet and drift off, happily lulled to sleep by the rumble of the air conditioner in the window across the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, the image of a twenty-something Tony Stark playing guitar and singing on stage has always been a head canon of mine. And it just so happened I was able to weasel it into this story.
> 
> Thank you guys so so much for the comments and kudos, it really makes my motivation sky rocket to get this story done and posted within the next week!!
> 
> *the song Tony sings is "Call Come Running" by Taking Back Sunday.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be up in a few hours later today. 
> 
> Again and as always, thank you for the comments and kudos! It never gets old seeing so many other people loving these two dorks <3

For as long as he could, Stephen fought against opening his eyes. He could tell sunlight was coming into the room through the closed curtains, but he wasn’t ready to accept that yet. He shifted slightly, and that’s when he felt the firm body behind him. The memory of last night came flooding back, and Stephen’s eyes flew open to confirm that it hadn’t been a dream.

Tony’s arm draped over his waist told him it wasn’t.

The sight brought a smile to Stephen’s lips. He looked over his shoulder, but all he could see was a mess of brown hair pressed up between his shoulders blades. As carefully as possible, Stephen managed to turn over, gathering Tony into his arms as the still sleeping man burrowed against his chest and let out a content sight.

Stephen toyed with the curls at the back of Tony’s neck, twirling the soft strands between his fingers. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on top of those perfect locks, falling asleep again within seconds.

He awoke about an hour later to the feeling of Tony’s lips brushing across his. Stephen opened his eyes slowly, arms still securely around Tony.

“Sorry,” Tony whispered against Stephen’s lips. “But I couldn’t resist.”

In response, Stephen pressed his lips flush against Tony’s. “I’m certainly not going to complain about it.”

Tony ducked his head back under Stephen’s chin and nuzzled into the warmth he found there. “I’ve never been so glad to have a day off in my life.”

Stephen hummed in agreement. Without needing to discuss it, they laid in bed for over an hour, dozing in and out of sleep as they cuddled under the warm blankets. It was only the joint rumbling of their stomachs that made either of them consider leaving.

“There’s no food here,” Stephen almost whined.

Tony finally removed his head from Stephen’s chest, laying on the pillow to look over at him. “Well, then, we’ll have to go to the diner for breakfast.”

“But that’s so far,” Stephen protested.

“It’s a two minute walk,” Tony said with a laugh. “And they have the best pancakes.”

That got through to Stephen. He all but jumped out of bed to get dressed, earning another laugh from Tony. Pulling on a pair of shorts from his dresser, Stephen turned to see Tony sliding back into his jeans from last night. For some reason, the sight made his heart flutter.

Within fifteen minutes, they were seated at a booth at the diner. Stephen was trying very hard not to blatantly stare at Tony in his awe over what had transpired over the last several hours. Thankfully, their food arrived, and they fell into their usual routine.

“What time does Rhodey’s train come in?” Stephen asked. Tony froze with his fork halfway to his mouth, looking up at Stephen in alarm. “Don’t tell me you forgot about your best friend coming to visit for the weekend.”

“Well, I have been a little _distracted_ ,” Tony huffed, lightly kicking Stephen’s foot under the table. “I didn’t forget.”

Stephen smirked. “So you wouldn’t have left him stranded at the station had I not mentioned it?”

“Of course not.”

“Uh huh.”

Tony swallowed the mouthful of pancakes with a glare. “He doesn’t get here until 2. So plenty of time. I’m on top of it.”

The next several days went much the same as Rhodey’s visit last summer went. They went to the drive-ins, although Tony and Stephen had to work the next day and were dragging a bit. Rhodey hung around the park during the day, and they spent the nights eating at the food trucks around town and hanging out at Tony’s. If it weren’t for the stolen kisses and discreet holding of hands, Stephen would have thought there was nothing different between him and Tony.

He was actually glad for the slight interruption in Rhodey’s being there. Things had definitely taken off quickly between them that first night, and it was nice to have a few days to breathe and take it all in.

Plus, Stephen would never get sick of seeing how happy Tony was around his best friend. It made him wish Rhodey could spend the entire summer at the beach if it meant keeping that smile on Tony’s face.

The night before what was supposed to be their two days off, they were all again at Tony’s house, drinking milkshakes by the pool and beginning to discuss what to do with Rhodey’s last full day tomorrow.

“I’m actually working,” Stephen reported. Tony raised an eyebrow. “Jason begged me. He has tickets to some concert that you apparently have to get to by eleven in the morning so you’re absolutely plastered by the time it starts and can’t remember anything.”

“Country Fest?” Tony offered.

Stephen shrugged. “Sounds right.”

So the next day, Tony and Rhodey spent the day on the beach, playing catch in the water and attempting to build a sand castle. It wasn’t that he didn’t love having Stephen around, but Tony was happy to have a day, just the two of them for a little while.

Across town at the park, Stephen was on duty at the wave pool, perched in his chair at the edge. He had just checked his watch to see how much longer until his lunch break when the conversion among a group of people on tubes below him caught his attention.

“Oh, yeah, I’m definitely going to hook up with Tony again this summer.”

Luckily, thanks to the angle, the group didn’t notice Stephen all but jump up and look down at them. The mention of Tony’s name stuck out over the yelling and laughing of the pool filled to capacity. Everyone was floating lazily, waiting for the waves to start again.

Stephen recognized the girl who had spoken. She was two years older than Stephen. Haley something. Her long blonde hair was spread out over the tube she was laying back in, her lean, tanned body accentuated by the skimpy yellow bikini she was wearing.

“You better be careful,” one of the boys she was with huffed. “My cousin goes to MIT with him. You’re liable to catch something. Kid gets around.”

“Maybe I’ll just lock him down for the summer then,” Haley mused, making her friends laugh.

“Well, if anyone can do it, it would be you.”

The group had drifted away, and were almost out of earshot. Stephen was seriously considering getting up and walking along the edge under the guise of keeping an eye out when he was shaken from his thoughts.

“Hey, Stranger.”

Stephen snapped his head around to see Owen making his way over. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“We’re going over to Sal’s for lunch. You in?”

Even though he wanted to protest, Stephen knew it would be a bad idea. Owen would be able to tell something was up. And besides, Stephen didn’t really want to sit by himself and brood over what was surely no big deal. So he agreed, and went along with Owen and a few others.

Having the second lunch hour usually made the rest of the day go by quickly, but not today. Stephen could barely pay attention to anything around him. His eyes kept finding Haley. Even though he wasn’t attracted to women, he wasn’t blind. She was stunning. Tall, perfect curves, flat stomach. Tanned all over. Beautiful smile.

But when had Tony hooked up with her? Maybe early last summer, before they started hanging out so much? Or one of the handful of nights they hadn’t slept over each other’s house?

How had things gone so right all of a sudden and are now just as quickly turning the other way?

Stephen was still mulling it over as he changed into his sneakers at the end of the day before heading home. His phone buzzing on the bench next to him made him pause when he saw Tony’s name lighting up the screen.

_**Hey, you on your way home? We’re thinking of going to the pier for dinner.** _

_**I’m going to help Owen with a few more things. You guys go ahead, I’m kind of beat.** _

_**Are you sure? We can wait. Or just get pizza or something here?** _

_**Nah go ahead. I’ll catch up with you guys later.** _

_**Ok, let me know if you change your mind.** _

_**I will. Have fun!** _

_**It would be more fun with you but I guess I’ll try.** _

_**Don’t be dramatic.** _

_**You know I can’t help it.** _

Per usual, the exchange brought a smile to Stephen’s face. He hadn’t lied, not exactly. He was really tired, but he knew part of it was the anxiety he had felt for the entire day after overhearing Haley in the wave pool. He didn’t want to be a kill joy and ruin Tony’s last night with Rhodey. They should have some more time together while they could.

Stephen did go back out to the park to help with the last of what needed to be done. He wanted to kill more time so he wouldn’t go by Tony and Rhodey on their way to dinner. When he eventually got home, he took a nice cool shower and went straight into his air conditioned room, all but collapsing onto his bed. Without meaning to, he fell asleep shortly thereafter, needing a break from his mind tormenting him.

When he woke up a few hours later, he grabbed his phone almost immediately. Before he fell asleep he had wanted to scour Haley’s social media to find any indication of involvement with Tony. It was stupid, he knew that, especially after what had happened between them less than a week ago. So what if something had happened last summer? Stephen was well aware that Tony had been with people at school since then. It was before him and Tony were together. Which is what they were now.

Right?

Or was it the threat of something happening again with Haley this summer that was really eating at him?

His intentions were quashed, however, when he saw Tony’s name yet again on his screen when he picked up his phone.

_**Rhodey’s making me watch Star Wars.** _

_**Again.** _

_**This is your fault.** _

_**I would have agreed with him over you.** _

_**Outrageous** _

_**Yes, you certainly are.** _

_**You wound me** _

_**I think you’re fine** _

_**I will be if you come with me to drop Rhodey off tomorrow** _

_**I can’t be unsupervised for that long** _

_**Definitely true. I’d be honored.** _

_**The honor is mine** _

_**You’re such a dork** _

_**You love it** _

_**Maybe I do.** _

_**I’ll see you tomorrow** _

_**Can’t wait** _

_**Night Steph.** _

_**Good night Tony.** _


	11. Chapter 11

As much as Stephen liked to see Tony happy around Rhodey, he hated seeing how sad he was when he had to leave. The pair were more than college roommates; they were brothers at this point. Their separation resulted in silence in the car after leaving the station until they were out of the city and back on the highway headed south.

“Thanks for spending your only day off driving around with me,” Tony said, breaking the quiet.

“Like I would have anything else to do.”

Tony glanced over and smiled. “I still appreciate it.” The music settled in as the only sounds for a few more minutes. But even though he was driving and his focus should have been elsewhere, Tony was still able to pick up on the way Stephen seemed distracted and even a little sad. “How was the park yesterday?” he inquired.

“Fine,” Stephen shrugged. “The usual. Quieter without you wreaking havoc.”

“I give the people what they want,” Tony laughed, defending himself.

“Did you hook up with Haley last summer?”

The sudden blurting of the question took Tony off guard. He looked over at Stephen for as long as he could with his eyes being off the road before he had to look back straight ahead.

“What?” he finally replied. “Who’s Haley?”

“Sparks, I think. Tall. Blonde. Gorgeous.”

Tony shook his head slowly. “I don’t know anyone named Haley,” he said. “And I didn’t hook up with anyone last summer.” When Stephen didn’t respond, Tony looked over again. “What’s wrong? Where is this coming from?”

“It’s nothing,” Stephen sighed. “I shouldn’t have even said anything.”

“Obviously it’s bothering you.”

“I just heard her in the wave pool yesterday talking about you.”

“Are you sure it was me?” Tony asked. “It could have been someone else.”

Stephen nodded once. “One of her friends mentioned MIT and – it was you.”

“Oh,” Tony replied weakly. “Well...I promise, I didn’t hook up with anyone last summer. I would have told you. I don’t know why someone I’ve never met would make that up.”

“She was talking about how she was going to do it again this summer.”

“She’s not,” Tony said firmly. “I don’t even know who the hell this person is.”

Stephen sighed. “I’m sorry. I just heard her and couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Tony promised. “I know we haven’t really had a chance to talk about us, but I am in no way just looking for a summer fling. Or planning on hanging out with anyone else, never mind hooking up with someone else.” At that, Tony noted the slightest tensing of Stephen’s shoulders out of the corner of his eye. “Is that what this is really about?”

“I don’t know,” Stephen admitted softly. “I don’t know how this works.”

“How what works?”

“This,” Stephen repeated, motioning between him and Tony. “I’ve never – I don’t know how to do any of this. Whether it’s a relationship or just hooking up, I don’t -”

“It’s not just hooking up,” Tony cut in. “That’s not what I’m after. Unless...is that what you want?”

“No,” Stephen answered quickly. “I just don’t want to bore you because I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t know what I’m ready for.”

The fact that they were in the car was for some reason giving Stephen the little bit of confidence he needed to say these things out loud. Maybe it was because they weren’t face to face, or maybe because he couldn’t run away and was all but trapped. But whatever it was, he was determined now to just get it all out in the open before he lost his nerve. No matter how embarrassing it would be.

“Bore me?” Tony asked incredulously. He was now looking over at Stephen every few moments when he could. “Why would I ever be bored with you?”

“Because I’m a virgin,” Stephen said before he could stop himself, even though he was sure Tony knew already. “You’re the first person I’ve ever even _kissed._ So I don’t – I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m twenty fucking years old and have never kissed anyone before. I’m scared that I’m going to disappoint you because I’m not going to be good at anything we do.”

To Stephen’s horror, he realized as he stopped talking that they had taken the ramp for a rest stop. As soon as Tony pulled into a parking space and put the car in park, Stephen wanted to open the door and run. The car being stopped made him feel vulnerable, even though Tony had pulled over to achieve the opposite. He wanted to show Stephen that he cared about this, cared about him.

Tony turned to fully face Stephen, who was looking at him and chewing his lip in anticipation.

“First of all, we don’t have to _do_ anything. I don’t care that we’re twenty. Age doesn’t mean anything, Steph. Being ready and being with someone who you trust and want to do these things with is what matters. You can’t just snap your fingers and be ready to go. I don’t care about any of that, okay?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to do it,” Stephen replied softly. “I do. I just don’t want it to, uh, not be good. For you.”

To Stephen’s surprise, Tony laughed.

“It’ll be good because it’s with _you_. Because of what you mean to me.” He reached out and took Stephen’s hand in his. “I spent the last six months doing everything I could to make the pain go away, to stop thinking about losing Jarvis. Nothing worked. Not until I was back here, with you. Every day since he died, he’s been the last thing I think about at night and the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. Until I finally told you how I feel. The next morning, he was the _second_ thing I thought about. You were the first. And you have been every day since.”

Stephen didn’t realize tears were falling from his eyes until Tony was gently wiping them away with his free hand.

“I didn’t know that,” Stephen admitted softly.

Tony smiled. “Well, that’s because I didn’t tell you. But should have. And I guess the other thing I should have told you is that I haven’t been with another guy.”

“What do you mean? Like, haven’t dated a guy?”

“Dated, kissed, hooked up with. Nothing. So as far as anything, uh, physical goes, we’re on an even playing field.”

Stephen blinked. “I guess I just assumed you had been with both.”

Tony shrugged. “I’m attracted to guys. Obviously. But I was never interested in anyone else. With girls, it was just kind of...different. Familiar, so that made it easier. I – in high school, I lost my virginity. Prom night, cliche as it is. I just never wanted to do anything with another guy because I knew I would just be wishing it was you.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Stephen forced out through his dry throat.

“You don’t have to say anything. I know it’s stupid, saying I was waiting for you when I was getting drunk and sleeping -”

“It’s not stupid,” Stephen interrupted. “I get it. Trust me,” he laughed slightly, “I get it. Because it’s been the same for me. Except, well, I wasn’t fighting anyone off or anything. You just seemed like the only option. Wait – no. Not option, that’s not what I meant. You’re just the only person I’ve ever felt anything for and -”

“Steph.” Tony took his turn to cut in. “I know what you mean.”

The taller of the pair shook his head slowly. “So you’re okay with taking things on the slower side?”

“More than okay,” Tony assured, squeezing Stephen’s hand firmly. “You could never disappoint me. I’ve been worried about it being the other way around, about letting you down again. But I swear, you’re all I care about. You’re the only person I want to be with. This summer, this year...for as long as you’ll have me.”

The laugh that came from Stephen’s lungs was as much from relief as happiness. “Are you going to kiss me now, or what?”

Tony didn’t need to be told twice.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut warning applies to the beginning of this chapter and here on out, in case it's not your thing and something you want to skip.
> 
> So to group the chapters the way I want them, I'm going to be posting a third chapter later tonight, and then three all at once tomorrow afternoon-ish. I'm just finishing up the epilogue, and should have it done by tomorrow night. Yay!

Stephen couldn’t remember what comment Tony made that resulted in Stephen splashing him until the other man had to retreat to the side of the pool. It was hard to remember that far back, or to even care, really. Stephen was much more concerned with the feel to Tony’s firm body pressed against his as Stephen pinned him against the wall of the pool.

The kiss had been initiated by Tony. At the last second, Stephen considered that Tony had done this on purpose, based on the smirk on his lips. But, again, it was hard to care about that once he had Tony’s tongue in his mouth and hands trailing all over him. The water came up a few inches above their waists, making their bathing suits even thinner in all the right places.

Only a few days had passed since their conversation in Tony’s car on the way back from dropping off Rhodey. It was obvious Tony meant it when he said he was fine with taking things slow. Maybe that was what was igniting something in Stephen. Maybe it was knowing that Tony hadn’t been with any other guys.

In all likelihood, it was the unmistakable feeling of Tony’s hardness matching his own. Their bodies were pressed together from the chest down, and Stephen couldn’t help but roll his hips forward against Tony’s. Stephen’s height advantage was working wonders. A wave of arousal rolled through him when Tony mimicked his actions, slowly moving forward against Stephen as they made out.

Within a few short minutes, they were all but grinding against each other in the water. The heat of the sun beating down on them added to the heat now between them made the kiss break multiple times so they could pant for air. Tony nipped across Stephen’s jaw as his hands wandered a bit more over Stephen’s wet skin, teasing along the line of his bathing suit.

“Can we -” Stephen had to swallow as he pulled back to look down at Tony. “Can we go inside?”

Tony could only nod at first. The sight of Stephen was almost too much. His cheeks were flushed, lips kiss swollen, short hair plastered to his head with water running down his face. “Yeah,” he finally managed, but nothing more.

They made it as far as the sun room, which was just fine with them. It was cooler than the hot summer air outside, but the sun coming through the expansive windows provided enough warmth. Stephen grabbed Tony in the middle of the room, kissing him again and letting the shorter man steer them to the couch a few feet away. They fell against the soft cushions, not leaving each other’s lips. Tony’s left leg was hooked over between Stephen’s with their thighs pressed together perfectly.

Kissing Tony was intoxicating. Stephen lost all semblance of time and his surroundings when they were like this. It escalated quickly, thanks to some new found courage Stephen felt pumping through his body. Feeling Tony’s hard dick pressing into his hip went straight to Stephen’s ego in knowing that he was the reason Tony was turned on. Not that Stephen was faring much better. His bathing suit was uncomfortably tight, more so by the second as Tony’s hand traveled up and down his leg, then across his chest. Tony’s knuckles brushed over Stephen’s nipple, and that did it.

Stephen pulled away to kiss at Tony’s neck, earning a shudder and quickened breathing for his troubles. “Maybe we could touch each other?” he suggested softly into Tony’s skin, where he kept his face hidden so he wouldn’t have to see Tony’s eyes.

Tony just used the opportunity to kiss Stephen’s shoulder and shift his leg forward a bit more, his knee coming up against Stephen’s bulge. “Don’t be embarrassed,” Tony exhaled. “You saying that is so fucking hot.”

“Yeah?” Stephen found himself asking.

“Yeah,” Tony assured. “Your voice...fuck, Steph.”

Stephen couldn’t have stopped his hips from jerking forward against Tony’s leg if he had tried. Which he didn’t. He instead kissed back up Tony’s neck until he got to his lips again, Tony’s mouth open and waiting hungrily.

Despite being the one to speak up, Stephen let Tony take the lead. He shifted his leg away, which Stephen would have protested about had Tony’s hand not replaced it. Slowly, he palmed Stephen’s dick through his shorts, applying the smallest amount of pressure and rubbing lightly. Stephen instantly moaned into Tony’s mouth, which made Tony press down a bit more.

Once his head cleared from the cloud of sudden lust, Stephen responded in kind. He just tried to copy what Tony was doing, pressing the palm of his hand to Tony’s groin. The heat that met his hand was unexpected, but amazing. Tony let out a shaky breath against Stephen’s lips at the touch. They kept kissing the best they could while they groped each other, but the obstacle of their suits became too much.

Before he even realized it, Stephen was lifting his hips off the couch and shoving his shorts down and out of the way. He was only vaguely aware of the fact that Tony was watching him, and he would have been self conscious about it had Tony not done the exact same a moment later. Stephen turned in time to see Tony’s cock spring free from its confines, making him almost whine at the sight.

As they caught their breath, they just looked down at each other. Stephen’s length was as pale as the rest of his body and perfectly long. Tony’s wasn’t as much, but was thicker and boasted a prominent vein working overtime to deliver all the blood rushing to it at the moment.

Tony’s lips were back on Stephen’s at the same time his hand closed around his shaft. Stephen moaned again, no longer caring about trying to hold back. Tony started stroking him steadily, and it took Stephen a moment to be able to do the same. Once his long fingers closed around Tony’s cock, Stephen realized he knew exactly what to do. Sure, it wasn’t his own, but he knew what buttons to press.

“Fuck,” Tony swore as Stephen started pumping him. His own hand sped up around Stephen before he pulled away to lick his palm, returning to Stephen’s cock with added slickness.

“God, Tony,” Stephen let himself mumble. Their lips were still trying to keep up with their hands. Stephen followed Tony’s cue and spit onto his hand. “Does this feel good?”

A breathy laugh came from Tony’s lungs. “So fucking good,” he said, jerking his hips up to emphasize his point.

He leaned forward, licking at the sweat on Stephen’s neck and chest. Stephen shivered under his touch, listening to the slapping sounds they were making against each other’s bodies. Somehow, Stephen managed to notice Tony’s cock twitching appreciatively as he grazed his thumb over the head, so he did it again, flicking against the swollen bulb repeatedly and loving the feel of the pre come leaking steadily. Meanwhile, Tony was twisting his wrist and squeezing around his dick perfectly, their rhythm virtually the same as they moved together.

When Tony kissed him again, Stephen almost let go. The feeling of Tony’s tongue sliding over his while their hands worked at each other’s throbbing cocks was perfect. And then Tony was pulling away, Stephen’s bottom lip trapped between his teeth, and that was basically it.

“Tony,” Stephen panted. “I’m going to – fuck. Tony. I’m gonna come.”

Somehow, Tony’s hand went even faster. “Fuck, Steph, come for me.”

While Stephen complied with that demand, Tony continued to jerk him steadily. Stephen’s grip on Tony tightened almost painfully, but was just what he needed. Seeing Stephen’s come spurting from his dick and landing on his toned stomach made Tony follow suit.

It took several long minutes to catch their breath, in part because they kept kissing once they had enough air in their lungs, only to lose it right away. Tony had the wherewithal to eventually grab a towel from the basket behind him and clean them up. They tugged their bathing suits back on with their tongues still in each other’s mouths.

A car door slamming in the driveway made them jump apart. The sound wasn’t that loud, but was deafening to them in their current state. Tony quickly kicked the towel under the couch before smirking at Stephen and getting up to head into the kitchen as the voices of his parents came into the house. Stephen stayed on the couch for another few seconds, catching his breath and trying to regain his composure before following Tony into the house.

“That was a quick boat ride,” Tony was saying when Stephen stepped into the kitchen.

“We were gone for five hours,” Maria replied with a laugh. “Oh, hello Stephen. Are you hungry? I’m sure Tony hasn’t offered to feed you. We’ve got plenty of leftover sandwiches in the cooler.”

Before Stephen could answer, Howard was handing him a tin foil bundle. “Turkey good?”

“Yes, sir, thank you,” Stephen replied as he took a seat at the island.

“Oh, Stephen dear,” Maria sighed. “You better put some more sunscreen on. Your face and neck are all red. Your shoulders too.” Tony tried to muffle his laughter by sticking his head in the fridge under the guise of retrieving drinks, but wasn’t all that successful. But before Howard could inquire as to why his son was giggling like that, his wife beat him. “You two are coming down to the clam bake later, right?”

Tony removed himself from the fridge with an armful of drinks. He put an iced tea in front of Stephen, handed his mother and father bottles of water, and left the Coke in his hand for himself. “I suppose we could make an appearance.”

“We did promise Owen,” Stephen pointed out.

“Isn’t he allergic to seafood?” Tony asked.

“You know he doesn’t let something like that stop him.”

“Well, we’re going to head over about six,” Maria reported. “Stephen, your parents will be there won’t they?”

Stephen nodded as he swallowed a bite of his sandwich. “I think they’re there already, helping set up.”

“I assume you’ll want to take your own car,” Howard directed at Tony.

“Probably the best idea,” Tony agreed. “You know, so we can stay later. Help clean up.” He looked at Stephen with a smirk. “Get our hands dirty.”

Stephen would have surely choked if he had been unfortunate enough to have anything in his mouth at the time. His cheeks, however, flushed an even deeper red. He shot Tony a look that he hoped conveyed how much he wished he could kill him.

Shortly thereafter, Howard retired to his office to make some calls, and Maria grabbed her book and headed down to the beach, leaving Tony and Stephen in the kitchen.

“You’re a god damn menace,” Stephen declared, but with absolutely no heat behind his words.

Tony smirked. His arms were folded on the counter as he leaned forward, bracing himself. “I don’t think you held that opinion fifteen minutes ago.”

“Oh, I did,” Stephen argued. “It’s always the case with you. Sometimes it’s just more manageable than others.”

“I can’t help what you do to me,” Tony shrugged. He came around the island to stand next to Stephen, brushing his hand through his short hair and kissing his forehead sweetly.

The gesture made Stephen pause. It was so tender and genuine he felt like he could melt right out of his chair. He looked up at Tony, who smiled at him almost shyly before sitting in the chair next to him and starting in on his own sandwich.

As Stephen finished his, the warm feeling in his stomach remained. And it wasn’t from the food.

* * *

For the fifth time in the last two hours, Tony had to remind himself not to reach out and grab Stephen’s hand. Or kiss him. Or put a hand on his leg. Which he clearly wanted to do, given that it kept boiling up and needed to be forced down.

It wasn’t that he disagreed with Stephen wanting to keep their new relationship a secret. Neither of them had told their parents about their sexuality thus far, and still needed some time to be ready to do that. This was new, for the both of them, and they wanted to enjoy it and get their footing before making it known to anyone else.

And besides, if this afternoon was any indication, it was going to be even more fun to sneak around for a little while.

But that didn’t mean it was easy to keep his affection down. It also wasn’t helping that Stephen looked really, really good. He was wearing khaki shorts and a navy shirt that made his eyes look blue. He was stretched out in the beach chair next to Tony, laughing at Owen trying to get a bag to land on the corn hole board.

“I’m gonna grab a drink,” Tony said, nudging Stephen’s foot to get his attention. “Want anything?”

“A water, please,” Stephen replied with a small smile.

Tony nodded. “Owen? Drink?”

“Son of a – what? Oh, yeah, gimme another of these,” he said, holding up his half empty bottle of beer. “I think I’m only two drinks away from taking this whole game over.”

“That’s gotta be it,” Tony said, laughing as he set off towards the coolers.

After collecting two waters and a beer, Tony turned to head back to where he was sitting with Stephen. He hadn’t even taken two steps before almost walking straight into Officer Donovan.

Because the clam bake took place on a stretch of public beach, local cops worked the details to handle parking and ensure things didn’t get out of hand. And of course, Donovan was working, and had honed in on Tony as soon as he saw him arrive.

“Shit, sorry,” Tony said, taking a step back. “I didn’t see you there.”

“I’m going to need to see some I.D.”

Tony shook his head. “What?”

Donovan nodded down at the beer in his hand. “Some I.D.”

“Oh,” Tony shook his head. “No, this isn’t mine. I was just grabbing it -”

“I.D.”

“It’s in my car, but I’ll save you the trouble. I’m not twenty-one. Which I’m sure you already know, but this isn’t -”

Donovan reached for his handcuffs. “Then I’m going to need you to put those down. You’re under arrest.”

“Oh, _come on._ ”

“Are you resisting?”

Stephen had looked over to see what was taking Tony so long in time to see Donovan walking up to him. He jumped out of his seat instantly. “Owen,” he started, but the older man was already halfway over there by the time Stephen said anything.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Owen asked.

“I believe the officer here is attempting to arrest my son for possession of alcohol.” Three heads turned to look to Howard Stark, who had suddenly appeared behind Tony. He then took a few steps forward, settling himself in front of his son. “But I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

Tony fought the smirk he felt at how Donovan visibly shrunk at the sight of his father. It was obvious that he hadn’t been expecting to see the elder Stark, who had had a friendly conversation with the chief of police after Donovan confronted Tony at the water park.

“It is,” Owen agreed before Donovan could say anything. “I asked him to grab me a beer. Look, he’s got two waters in his other hand. He was just getting it for me. It’s my fault. I didn’t think it was a big deal for him to carry a beer twenty feet across a party.”

“He’s under age,” Donovan spat. “And in possession of alcohol.”

“He’s twenty,” Howard agreed. “Not thirteen. And you’ve got a viable explanation. He obviously wasn’t going to start drinking surrounded by people who know he isn’t old enough. Me especially.”

“You’re giving him too much credit,” Donovan decreed.

Howard squared his shoulders even more than they already had been. “No, you’re holding mistakes he made against him in the hopes he’ll screw up again. Which he probably will, at some point. He’s a kid. But he’s a good kid, and he’s _my_ kid.”

Donovan wanted to ask if that was a threat, but didn’t get a chance to. His lieutenant joined them, just as curious as some of the nearby party goers as to what was going on.

“Mr. Stark,” Shaw greeted. “Donovan. What’s this all about?”

“My son here was bringing a beer to his boss, which is about to result in his arrest,” Howard explained.

Shaw looked down at Tony’s hands, noting the two water bottles and clearly closed beer. He glanced at Donovan before taking the beer from Tony and handing it to Owen when he reached out for it.

“Well, that’s certainly not the crime of the century. You haven’t been tossing a few back under the tables, have you?”

Tony shook his head. “No, sir. Just trying to help Owen improve his corn hole game.”

That got a chuckle out of Shaw. “No harm in that. I think our efforts are best directed elsewhere. You folks have a good night now.”

No room for argument was left, and Donovan followed Shaw with his tail between his legs.

Owen squeezed Tony’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, kid. I didn’t see him here. I should have known better.”

“It’s not your fault,” Howard answered, waving Owen off.

The other man walked away somewhat reluctantly, leaving Tony with his father.

“Dad, I swear I wasn’t going to drink it. I’m not that stupid.”

To Tony’s surprise, Howard nodded. “I know that.”

“I don’t even like beer,” Tony added.

“Well, that’s not your best argument,” Howard said with a laugh. “You just have to be careful, Tony. I know you didn’t think twice. You were getting a drink for your friend. But you don’t have the luxury of being just another kid at a cookout.”

“I know,” Tony said softly.

“It’s not fair,” Howard sighed. “You made a mistake, but so did the police. And I for one am not going to apologize for doing what I could to help you. Because I know you’ve been having a hard time since...” he trailed off. He hadn’t spoken much about his long time friend since his passing. “Since we lost Jarvis. But even though I have faith in you, others won’t. They want you to mess up, they want to see you fail. You can’t let them be right, okay?”

Tony swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “I won’t. I’m sorry.”

In a rare show of fatherly love, Howard wrapped one arm around Tony’s shoulders and hugged him briefly. Tony was so stunned he couldn’t even return the embrace before it was over.

“Let’s not tell your mother,” Howard suggested, getting Tony to smile. “She’s over there making plans to save the world. No need to interrupt that to have her go chasing after police officers.”

Tony breathed a laugh. “Deal.”

When he returned, Tony could feel Owen looking at him, but didn’t look up. He handed Stephen his water and sat down as if nothing had occurred. Stephen sat down next to him after a second.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Tony sighed. He leaned back until his head was resting against the chair behind him. “I’m fine.”

Even though he could tell he wasn’t, Stephen let it be. They went back to watching Owen get humiliated in his game, but Stephen kept glancing over at Tony. His demeanor was hard to read, making Stephen wish they weren’t surrounded by people so they could talk.

A few minutes later, Owen recruited them to take their turn against him and Louis from the park in a game of corn hole. Tony started to come back to himself as they played, laughing and joking along with Owen while he and Stephen won easily. Following the game they went and got some food, joining their parents at a table to eat.

It seemed as though Tony was quieter than usual, but Stephen wasn’t sure if he was just reading too much into it. He tried not to scrutinize every move Tony made the rest of the night, but it was hard not to. He was worried, and as it turned out, he was right to be.

Sitting around a bonfire on the beach toasting marshmallows for s’mores was undoubtedly one of Tony’s favorite things to do. So when he ate just one before sitting there silently and staring into the flames, Stephen’s suspicions that he wasn’t fine were confirmed. Tony could sense Stephen looking at him, and when he turned to meet his eyes, he jerked his head over his right shoulder in the direction of the dunes behind them. Stephen didn’t need any more than that. He silently got up and followed Tony as he walked away from the party.

They crossed the high grass and walked through the dunes. Once on the other side, Tony collapsed onto the sand. Stephen sat less theatrically next to him. Even in the dark, he could see the tears welling up in Tony’s brown eyes.

“I’m sorry I’m being such a kill joy,” Tony muttered miserably.

Stephen shook his head even though Tony was staring down at the sand between his bare feet. “You’re not. That was fucked up that that asshole tried to arrest you.”

Tony chewed his lip. “It’s not that.”

“What is it?” Stephen prompted gently.

“Jarvis – god, he would be so disappointed in me,” Tony choked out around the lump in his throat. “Using his death as an excuse to act like a fucking idiot. He always stood up for me, he was always there for me and the way I repay him is getting high because I let my grades slip instead of just dealing with the pain like a normal god damn person.”

“There is no normal way to deal with something like this. He wouldn’t be disappointed in you. I didn’t now him as well as you, but I can confidently say that he would understand. You’re human, Tony. You’re entitled to mistakes.”

“These weren’t mistakes, they were choices,” Tony argued. “I chose to do all of it, no one forced me.”

“Why did you do it?”

Tony finally looked over at Stephen and blinked, sending the tears down his cheeks. “What?”

“The drinking and sleeping around and the drugs. Why did you do it?” Stephen asked again.

“Because I wanted to feel something other than pain,” Tony said before he registered that that was going to be his answer. “I just wanted it to stop.”

Stephen smiled slightly. “It doesn’t get much more human than that. Don’t let what that jackass thinks of you get to you.”

Tony averted his eyes once more. “I’m not worried about what he thinks. I’m worried about what you think.”

“What I think?” Stephen frowned. “What do you mean? I told you, none of that changes how I feel about you and I meant it.”

“But how do you know it won’t?” Tony wanted to know, looking back up. “You were worried that I was going to hook up with Ashley again -”

“Haley.”

“Whatever. I know my recent past bothers you. It makes you think I’m out of control and unpredictable.”

“That’s not what I think,” Stephen disagreed. “Not even close.”

Tony huffed. “So you didn’t ask Owen to change your schedule this summer to avoid me?”

Stephen felt like he was punched in the gut. “How did you know that?”

“How do you think?” Tony replied, but with no heat behind his words. “Owen can’t keep his mouth shut. You know that.”

“I just, uh, I just didn’t want...” Stephen stammered. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “That was before I knew the reason I hadn’t heard from you all that time. I – it was a knee jerk reaction, okay? I saw those posts online with you at parties and I was jealous and hurt and it was stupid. I couldn’t go the whole summer seeing you every day because I didn’t think you would ever feel the same way about me.”

It was quiet for a long time. The sounds of the party behind them mixed in with the crashing of the waves at the other end of the sand. They had each looked away, so Stephen wasn’t prepared for what Tony said next.

“I know I’m not good enough for you.”

Stephen was sure he had misheard. “You can’t be serious.”

“You hated me for that entire first summer,” Tony pointed out.

“I didn’t hate you. I didn’t know you, and the version of you I created in my head was a defense mechanism.”

It was Tony’s turn to frown. “What does -”

“Because if I never let anyone close to me, then they can’t leave me.”

The admission hung heavy in the air between them. Tony didn’t need any further elaboration. He knew what Stephen meant, and he also knew that he had been guilty of doing exactly that by cutting off all communication without explanation. Even though he had never meant to, Tony hurt him in a way he was always so afraid of being hurt.

Tony slid his hand into Stephen’s, the sand on their palms rubbing into their skin. “I’m so sorry that I ever made you think I would leave you.”

“But you didn’t,” Stephen said. “You came back.”

“Yeah,” Tony smiled. “And I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon.”

To that, Stephen leaned over and kissed him. Tony sighed into it, tugging Stephen a bit closer to deepen the embrace.

When they broke apart, they stayed close enough that Tony’s nose brushed across Stephen’s cheek. “Today was a really good day. Wasn’t it?”

Stephen breathed a laugh. “I really don’t have many complaints.”

Tony tasted Stephen’s lips again. “Are you staying over tonight?” he asked.

“Is there a possibility of a repeat performance of this afternoon?”

“If that’s what you want,” Tony offered. “I’m definitely not going to say no to that.”

Two short hours later, they had replaced the sand with Tony’s overly comfortable bed. Laying on their sides with the sheets pooled at their waists while they kissed passionately, rubbing against each other like they were trying to start a fire. Tony’s leg was hooked over Stephen’s hip while he pumped their aching erections together, Stephen’s hand curled around his to add pressure.

Stephen pulled away from Tony’s lips and moved to lick at the sensitive skin over his collarbone. Tony gasped, his free hand shooting from Stephen’s back to grab his ass and pull him impossibly closer.

“Fuck,” Tony hissed, fighting to keep his voice low. “I’m so close, Steph.”

In response, Stephen jerked his hips harder. “I’m right there,” he agreed. “Jesus Christ. Tony. Fuck fuck fuck I’m coming.”

Hot spend covered their hands and stomachs. They kept rocking into each other through their orgasms, clutching at one another almost desperately.

In a haze, they managed to clean up and pull their boxers back on before snuggling under the covers. Tony happily tucked his head under Stephen’s chin, the taller man more than willing to wrap his arms around him securely.

He was only human, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note - I work in law enforcement, and have tremendous respect for police officers. However, as with any profession, not everyone is perfect, and sometimes people abuse their power. I don't mean for anything in this story to be a slight against police officers at all, but rather just used as a reminder that sometimes people make mistakes on both sides. 
> 
> Again again again thanks for the feedback!!


	13. Chapter 13

“Do you like go karts?”

The question made Tony raise an eyebrow as he looked up at Stephen. They were sitting at the island in Tony’s kitchen, eating pizza and bread sticks, still in their bathing suits from work. Tony finished chewing and swallowed before replying.

“I can’t say I’ve been all that recently,” he admitted with a shrug. “But as I recall it was pretty fun.”

Stephen nodded once. “Well, there’s this place like an hour away, but it has go karts and arcade games and a movie theater. Mini golf too, I think. I thought it might be fun to check out tomorrow,” he said with a small shrug.

Tony wasn’t able to hide his smirk. “Are you asking me on a date?”

The blush that flashed across Stephen’s cheeks was nothing short of endearing. “I guess so, yeah.”

“I’d love to go,” Tony answered before Stephen became overly self conscious. “But are you sure you want to spend a whole day losing to me?”

“Oh, please,” Stephen huffed. “You have yet to beat me in a single video game.”

“Arcade games leave much more room for improvising.”

“You mean cheating.”

Tony shook his head dramatically. “Me? Never. How could you think that?”

“Because I know you?”

The attempt Tony made at kissing Stephen was foiled slightly by his smile. “If this place is an hour away, we should leave on the early side. So you should probably sleep over. You know, just to be safe.”

Stephen hummed. “It’s always better to be cautious and plan ahead,” he agreed.

As it turned out, they were later leaving the house the next morning _because_ Stephen slept over than they would have been otherwise. Their extensive activities the night before left them sleeping in, and when they finally did wake up, they spent the better part of an hour picking up where they had left off. 

But it wasn’t as if either of them really cared what time they got there.

They arrived at the entertainment complex just before noon. It was relatively busy, but not so much due to it being the middle of the week. Without needing to discuss it, they headed straight for the go karts  after loading their game cards. 

“You have to promise you won’t break up with me after I smoke you,” Tony quipped at Stephen while they buckled in.

Stephen rolled his eyes, but his smirk betrayed him. “I don’t think we have to worry about you winning, but I promise anyway.”

As it turned out, Tony winning wasn’t an issue. He didn’t. Stephen came out on top in all four races before Tony declared him a cheater and demanded they settle their differences on the mini golf course.

Tony was only marginally better than Stephen. He maintained a slim lead through most of the holes, but then Stephen evened it up. He was in the middle of lining up a putt to keep them tied when he was interrupted on the back swing. Tony was standing on the sidewalk paving the way between holes, making him finally level with Stephen’s height. He leaned forward stealthily and waited until Stephen started to move his club.

“Don’t mess up,” he suggested right next to Stephen’s ear.

Of course, Stephen did mess up. He missed the target horribly, his ball bouncing off the ledge and coming back to rest almost exactly where he had just hit it from. Turning around abruptly, he tried to glare at Tony, but the usually shorter man’s grin prevented him from doing so.

“You’re the absolute worst,” Stephen decided before pulling Tony to him and kissing him firmly.  Tony was taken aback by the sudden public display of affection. He let his hand find Stephen’s hip while their lips stayed connected, and was unable to hide his surprise when Stephen finally pulled away. “Oh, sorry,” Stephen muttered. “I guess I forgot where we were for a second.”

But neither of them made any move away from each other.

Tony smiled. “I don’t mind. I don’t care where we are, I’m never going to not want you to kiss me.”

Stephen cocked his head. “That barely made sense.”

“But you understood it.”

“Yeah,” Stephen sighed. “I did,” he agreed before kissing Tony again.

The mini golf game ended in a draw. Which lead them inside to the arcade games, where Tony employed additional methods of ‘improvising.’ After over an hour of playing, they were well beyond hungry and decided to finally grab a table and get something to eat. Easily enough, they decided on burgers, fries and shakes.

“ This was a really good idea,” Tony praised while he munched on his fries. 

“Even though you hardly won at anything?” Stephen teased.

Tony kicked his foot under the table, then left his leg outstretched so it was touching Stephen’s. “I’d lose at anything you want all day as long as I got to spend it with you.”

“ Well, fuck,” Stephen breathed. “That’s not fair, you being all sappy when I was making fun of you.”

“I don’t play fair, Steph.”

“ I’ve noticed. I just wish I could articulate things as well as you can.”

Tony frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

Stephen shrugged and looked down at his food, pretending to be busy eating. “I don’t know. You’re just good at talking about things. I never have been.” He looked up to meet Tony’s eyes shyly. “But I hope you know that I, uh, that I’m really glad we’re together.”

“I am too,” Tony said with a warm smile. “More than I’d ever be able to explain to you.”

But he would still try.   



	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the first of three that I was considering cutting from the story, but decided not to for a few reasons I outline at the end of Chapter 16. Hope I made the right choice keeping it in!
> 
> I appreciate the feedback more than you know - it's really motivating me to get this finished and posted before I leave for vacation. I'm planning on posting two more tomorrow morning, two Thursday morning, and then the epilogue Friday afternoon. But, of course, that's subject to change although I do promise to have it all up by Friday night!

It wasn’t that Stephen thought Tony was lying.

What it really boiled down to was the evidence he had in front of him simply did not match what Tony had previously said.

There was likely no malice, no ill-intent. But the fact of the matter remained that what Tony had said just cannot be true. One one or another, however you looked at it, there was just no way.

Stephen just couldn’t be convinced that this was the first blow job Tony had ever given.

After work, Tony followed Stephen into his house. The Stranges were at dinner with the Starks, and the two young men had some pent up lust they needed to work out. All day they had been working up on the same slide, and simply looking at each other and bantering all morning lead to a rather intense make out session in the locker room during lunch. They had to force themselves apart before things got too far and an unfortunate co-worker wandered in on them.

Once the door to Stephen’s bedroom was closed and locked behind them, they were all over each other. Their shirts were gone before they even hit the bed, where their shorts followed not long after. Tony was on top of Stephen, sliding their aching erections together and kissing everywhere his lips and tongue could reach. Stephen thrust up the best he could, grabbing Tony’s hips and keeping their bodies pressed together from head to toe.

Tony eventually stopped his exploration of Stephen’s chest to look up at him, eyes black with lust, panting to catch his breath. His hand had slowed down around their cocks, stroking almost lazily. His eyes locked onto Stephen’s, his tongue flicking out to run over his lips to chase the taste Stephen’s skin had left.

“Can I go down on you?”

If the question hadn’t knocked the air from Stephen’s lungs, he would have laughed. He would have told Tony that was the most absurd thing he had ever heard and demand to know why he felt the need to ask such a stupid thing. In reality, however, all Stephen did was nod frantically and let out a strangled gasp.

So down Tony went.

His lips stretched perfectly around Stephen’s head, his tongue swirling the spit in his mouth over the heated flesh as he moved. It took all of Stephen’s energy not to throw his head back and scream with how good it felt. Tony licked and sucked with a purpose. Everything he did drove Stephen wild, especially when he paid extra attention to the weeping head. When he started to play with Stephen’s balls, the latter’s grip in Tony’s messy hair tightened.

“Fuck, Tony. I’m going to come. Jesus fucking Christ please don’t stop.”

At that, Tony looked up at Stephen, mouth full of his dick, and took every last inch that he possibly could while moving his hand to work the base that he couldn’t reach. Stephen expected his warning would make Tony pull off, but he didn’t. He kept sucking, harder than ever, until Stephen came into his mouth.

Tony eventually did pull back, looking down at his handiwork. He swallowed what had stayed in his mouth, still caressing Stephen’s dick. The sight sent another spurt of come from the overtaxed organ and made Stephen moan Tony’s name again.

Somehow, Stephen managed to pull Tony back up and kiss him hard. His own body had been wiped clean by one of their t shirts, but he was all too aware of the pulsing dick pressed into his stomach as he kissed Tony. Before now, the thought of tasting himself on someone’s tongue would have probably repulsed him. But not right now. Not when it was mixed with the taste of Tony.

He pushed against Tony until he rolled them over, pinning the short man onto the bed beneath him. He kissed down Tony’s neck to his chest, flicking his tongue over each nipple before beginning his descent lower, his hand pumping Tony’s cock steadily as he went.

“Steph,” Tony half moaned. “You don’t have to.”

“I think it’s only fair to return the favor,” Stephen mumbled into Tony’s stomach.

Strong fingers stretched into Stephen’s short hair. “You don’t have to do it just because I did. I didn’t do it to make you -”

“You’re not making me do anything,” Stephen cut in. He gently sank his teeth into the skin below Tony’s belly button and felt the hard dick in his fist jump. “I want to blow you.”

“Fucking hell,” Tony cursed softly.

There were no protests as Stephen settled between Tony’s legs and looked down. Before he could think too much about the fact that Tony had had this done to him before and would have something to compare it to, he stuck out his tongue and licked Tony’s thick cock from the base to the tip. The shudder he felt run through Tony’s entire body gave him a jolt of confidence when he got to the head, which he sucked into his mouth gently.

Again, he was surprised that the taste didn’t make him recoil. Instead he found himself thrilled with the intimacy of it. The weight of Tony on his tongue as he slowly took more into his mouth. The sounds coming from the man above him. The little jerks of his hips as he tried to stay still.

More than a few times, he had to pull away to catch his breath. During those points he used his hands, twisting and flicking and squeezing in all the right places. Any self consciousness fell away in how responsive Tony was. His breathy moans and pants were all the encouragement Stephen needed.

When Tony finally came, it wasn’t while Stephen’s mouth was still around him. His jaw had stopped cooperating and it was ultimately his fast moving hands that finished the job. But judging by the way Tony almost growled and how much his back arched off the bed, he didn’t seem to mind.

Pure want drew Stephen to lean down and lick Tony’s come from his toned abs, drawing another long moan from him. Moving forward to settle next to Tony, Stephen pulled a blanket up to shield their sensitive skin from the cold air surrounding them.

Tony slung his leg over Stephen’s thigh and shuffled closer until he could kiss Stephen’s lips sufficiently. “I think we’ve earned a nap, don’t you?”

Stephen laughed against Tony’s lips. “You sure did, I’m not quite sure if I was up to par.”

“Are you insane?” Tony asked incredulously. “You think I could fake that?”

“No,” Stephen shrugged. “It’s just that – well I know -”

But Tony’s lips pressing against his stopped him there. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. Because it’s either wrong or just plain silly.” His hand framed the side of Stephen’s face as he looked at him. “The fact that you wanted to do this with me, any of this with me, is incredible. Because it’s you. It’s with you.”

Stephen swallowed. “I just want to make you happy.”

“You do,” Tony said resolutely. “You made me happier than I ever thought possible way before you ever sucked my dick.”

The laugh that came from Stephen was pure joy. “Of course you can say something ridiculously sweet and yet totally crude at the same time.”

“That’s your fault, not mine.”

Instead of arguing, Stephen kissed him.

Before they could get too riled up again, they decided to get dressed and head out in search of dinner. The pair grabbed pizza at their favorite place before heading down towards the beach for ice cream. They continued walking long after their dessert was finished, talking and laughing as they strolled along the beach just out of the way of the rolling waves.

There was still enough sun left in the sky for them to see clearly down the stretch of sand in front of them. They were coming up on a group of people sitting around a small fire, most of whom appeared to have been drinking for a majority of the day.

“Tony!”

The sudden exclamation stopped the aforementioned man mid sentence. He looked up in the direction of the voice that had called his name to see a pretty blonde girl all but running over to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Stephen’s head turn to look at him quickly.

“Fuck,” Tony cursed under his breath.

“What?” Stephen asked. “You said you didn’t know her.”

“Know who?”

“Haley.”

Tony’s eyes widened in surprise and his face went pale. “Fuck,” he repeated, more resolutely this time around.

“There you are!” Haley giggled, throwing her arms around Tony’s neck as she finally reached them. “Why have you been avoiding me all summer?”

She was clearly drunk. Her words had a slight slur to them, and the smell of beer followed her from the cup she left behind. Stephen stared as she hugged Tony, who was too stunned to do anything other than stand there stiffly.

When she finally let him go, he shook his head slightly. “I’m sorry, I don’t -”

“Do not try that with me,” Haley warned teasingly. “You remember. Or should I remind you?”

Tony tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. “No.”

“Who’s your friend?” Haley asked, looking over at Stephen. Before Tony could answer, she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him over towards the fire. “You really need to come party with us. We’re going out on my dad’s boat tomorrow, so you should just stay at my place for the night.”

“Uh, no,” Tony said, pulling his hand away as if Haley’s skin was made of lava. “I’m not – this isn’t...”

But he couldn’t string a sentence together. He could feel the tension radiating off Stephen, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Tony the entire time. Tony turned to the taller man, looking up at him pleadingly.

Haley huffed. “Are you kidding me right now?” she wanted to know. “You’re just going to ignore me?”

“Yes,” Tony said over his shoulder. “Stephen, I didn’t know that she was who you meant.”

“What are you talking about?” Haley tried to cut in.

“Jesus Christ,” Tony exhaled. He grabbed Stephen’s arm and pulled him around Haley, leading him back the way they had just come. To save face with her friends, Haley returned with a made up story that neither of them heard.

Stephen pulled his arm from Tony’s grasp and took a step back. “You told me you didn’t know her.”

“I don’t,” Tony said. When Stephen opened his mouth to argue, Tony was quick to continue. “I mean, I didn’t know her. I didn’t know her name. When you asked me, I didn’t know that that was Haley.”

“Tony,” Stephen held his hands up. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You asked me if I hooked up with a girl named Haley last summer.”

“Yeah. I’m aware of what I said,” Stephen deadpanned.

Tony nodded once. “Well, I didn’t. I hooked up with her sometime at the beginning of spring semester. But I didn’t know she was the girl you were asking about because I never knew her name.”

Stephen shook his head. “You didn’t know her name?”

“No,” Tony admitted with a sigh. “I was drunk. There was a party, and I met her there. Never asked her name. I don’t even remember that night.”

“And yet you were still able to lie to me about it.”

“I didn’t lie to you. I didn’t know -”

“You think that’s better?” Stephen scoffed. “That you were too drunk to remember sleeping with someone who is now trying to get with you again?”

The panic Tony was feeling was overwhelming. He couldn’t think straight. His heart was racing and his chest felt like it was collapsing in on his lungs. “You said you didn’t care.” Tony’s voice was weak, broken. “You said it didn’t change how you feel about me.”

“That was before it came up and slapped me in the face,” Stephen said with a humorless laugh. “You said you were being honest with me about the things that had happened in one breath and then lying to me in the next.”

Tony felt like dropping to his knees and pleading. “I didn’t lie, Steph. I swear I didn’t know that that was who you were talking about when you -”

Stephen took another step back, shaking his head. “Stop saying that.” His eyes were looking anywhere but at Tony. “I just, uh, I’m gonna head home.”

“No, Stephen wait,” Tony called to Stephen’s retreating back. “Let me at least walk with you.”

“I just need to clear my head,” Stephen muttered over his shoulder, never slowing in his retreat.

Standing in the sand, Tony watched him go. He disappeared up the beach, turning to head towards the street that would take him back home. Tony felt tears stinging his eyes, but forced himself to wait until he was sure Stephen would have made it home before starting back himself.

He couldn’t tell if Stephen was home when he passed his house. Tony all but ran into his, bolting up the stairs to his room where he slid down to the floor after closing the door behind him. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped quickly.

_**Did you make it home okay?** _

Stephen stared down at his phone for almost ten minutes before deciding to reply.

_**Yeah** _

_**Can we talk?** _

_**Please?** _

Tony’s reply came instantly. Stephen felt the ache in his stomach intensify at the thought of having to listen to Tony try and explain this away.

_**Maybe tomorrow, I’m just gonna go to sleep** _

_**Stephen, I swear I didn’t know** _

_**I would never lie to you like that** _

When no response came, Tony dropped his phone to the floor and grabbed fistfuls of his hair. He sat there for a long time, trying to figure out how he was going to fix this.

He didn’t come up with anything.


	15. Chapter 15

The next day was one of the worst Tony could remember since Jarvis died.

He woke up to a text from Stephen saying that he was heading to the park early and didn’t need a ride. It didn’t come as much of a surprise, but still stung quite effectively. Tony didn’t even end up seeing Stephen until after lunch, when they crossed paths heading back to their posts. They made eye contact, but Stephen looked away quickly and continued on his way without saying a word.

As hard as it was, Tony decided to leave him alone.

At the end of the day, Tony grabbed his stuff and left as soon as he could to be out of Stephen’s way. He got in the shower as soon as he got home, anxious to get into clean clothes in the hopes that it would help to make him feel better.

Of course, it didn’t.

For the next two hours, he sat on the couch in the bonus room, staring at his phone clutched in his hand while the tv droned in the background. He ignored it, not caring at all about what was on. He was far too busy willing his phone to ring, to vibrate with a text, anything.

When darkness finally fell outside and still nothing came, he couldn’t help himself anymore.

_**Tell me what you want me to do** _

_**I don’t have the answer to that** _

_**Well neither do I** _

_**But I want to at least try to figure it out** _

_**I’m exhausted** _

_**I didn’t sleep well last night** _

Tony laughed out loud at that. As if he had gotten a perfect eight hours himself after watching Stephen walk away from him.

_**I didn’t either, and I won’t again tonight if you won’t talk to me** _

_**Don’t put this on me** _

_**I’m not putting anything on anyone** _

_**There’s nothing to put on you** _

_**Just tell me you want to work this out** _

_**I thought we already had worked it out** _

_**Do you really think I lied to you on purpose?** _

_**I don’t know what to think** _

_**I’m too tired to think** _

_**I’m sorry** _

_**Can we talk tomorrow?** _

_**Sure** _

Due to the fact that he could no longer see through the tears in his eyes, Tony had to leave it at that for now. He didn’t want to push Stephen any farther away. Even though he was in the next house over, it felt like Stephen was on the other side of the world.

At this point, Tony would do absolutely anything to undo everything he had done since losing Jarvis. None of it had been worth it, worth this. The idea that he was about to lose Stephen for good kept him up, his stomach twisted into knots throughout the entire night.

He hadn’t even noticed the sun was starting to come up until he was shaken from his thoughts.

“Sweetheart? What on earth are you doing up this early?”

Maria Stark always woke up extremely early. _Obnoxiously early_ , as Tony always put it. 4:30 was the absolute latest she would rise for the day, which was currently the case. She had been making her way downstairs to start on her coffee when she heard the sound of the tv coming from the bonus room. Assuming Tony had left it on when he went to bed, she went in to turn if off. Instead, she found her only child slumped on the couch, head propped up by his hand, staring blankly at the carpeted floor. He looked up when he heard her voice, and when their eyes met, the tears immediately starting falling from his tired eyes.

“I fucked up,” he said shakily as his mom hurried over to sit next to him. “I tried to do the right thing. I didn’t mean to – but I didn’t realize who she was, and now Stephen thinks I lied even though I didn’t mean to.”

The words barely made any sense. Maria could easily tell that Tony was beyond exhausted. His face was impossibly pale, the usual tan gone from his cheeks and replaced by dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. She reached out and ruffled his soft hair with her fingers lightly.

“What happened, honey?” she prompted gently.

Tony tried to take a deep breath, but it stuttered in his lungs. “After Jarvis died, I stopped talking to Stephen. I was – well, you know. I was all over the place. But when I got here, I told him everything. Or everything I could remember, anyway. I told him about the drinking and the, uh, the partying and all of that. And that I got arrested. He said he understood, that he didn’t care and wouldn’t hold it against me.”

Maria felt her heart pull at how sad her son was. Sad didn’t even begin to adequately describe it. She had seen him like this far too often in the last year and wished more than anything that there was something more she could do for him.

“Why did you stop talking to him?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Tony almost sobbed. “Because I was ashamed. I knew I was out of control and didn’t want him to see that. But I knew I couldn’t just pretend nothing happened, so I told him everything. At least I tried to. There’s just some stuff I don’t remember. I -” he swallowed hard and shook his head. “There’s this girl. Stephen heard her talking at the park about hooking up with me again this summer. He asked me if I had been with her last summer, and I told him no. Because it was true, I didn’t do anything with anyone here last year. But I didn’t realize that I did know her, that I met her in Boston and now he thinks I lied.”

Any awkwardness Tony would have normally felt from talking to his mom about the current subject was simply vacant. He was almost positive she knew there was more than friendship between him and Stephen. She had this way about her, knowing smiles and a sparkle in her eye that conveyed more than her saying anything would have. Their conversation would all but confirm it, but Tony wasn’t concerned about that. He was tired, and heartbroken, and needed to talk it through.

He wiped at his eyes before looking up at his mom. “I know this is my fault, that I made mistakes and I need to deal with the consequences of my actions. But I _tried_ to. I told him the truth, I really fucking tried. And it wasn’t enough. How do I fix things when I can’t even remember half of what I did wrong? I know that’s part of the problem. But it’s just not fair, mom. He means so much to me but no matter how much I want to, I can’t change what I did. I can’t tell him I hooked up with a girl named Haley in February because _I don’t remember_ and that just makes it worse so what the hell am I supposed to do?!”

The last part he almost yelled, but a sob choked him up and prevented his voice from rising. In lieu of an immediate response, Maria wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly as he cried against her shoulder. She brushed her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck until he started to calm down, but she didn’t let him go.

“You can’t change the past,” she said softly. “And there’s only so much you can punish yourself for the mistakes you’ve made. You may be a genius, sweetheart, but you’re still so young. Not everything has a fix, not everything has an answer.”

Tony pulled back and looked at her pleadingly. “So what do I do?” he asked again.

She smiled warmly. “You need to remember that you and Stephen are very different people, with very different childhoods and experiences. A lot of this doesn’t make sense to him because he’s never been exposed to any of it. But unfortunately, he does understand loss. And he understands that people process their grief differently, which is probably what’s scaring him.”

“I don’t want him to be scared of me.”

“Not of you, but what you’ve been through. He doesn’t know how he fits into your life because he thinks that what you did to get through a horrible time is just a natural part of your life.”

Tony shook his head. “It’s not. He said he knew that.”

“I think he does know that,” Maria agreed. “But it’s easy to forget what you know when your heart has taken over. You knew better than to mess around with drugs, but you couldn’t use your head when your heart was broken.” At that, Tony dropped his eyes again. “Oh, honey, I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. The fact that that happened told me how much you were struggling, and I should have noticed well before it got to that point. It was my fault, not yours.”

Tony looked up at her in astonishment. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m an adult, and I knew better. You can’t be responsible for me my whole life.”

“Of course I can,” she huffed, earning a small smile in response. “But my point is, Stephen knows you can’t do much about things that have already happened. All you can do is your best to learn from it and move forward. If he needs some space, give him space. If he needs time, then give him time.”

Tony chewed his bottom lip. “I’m really scared I’m going to lose him.”

“You didn’t come this far to only come this far,” Maria said before pressing a kiss to Tony’s forehead. “The two of you are more than...” she let her sentence hang in the air unfinished. It wasn’t her place to put a name to something Tony hadn’t yet articulated. “You’re both too stubborn to let this ruin a good thing.” That made Tony breathe a short laugh. “You should really try and get at least an hour of sleep before work,” she added.

“I’ve got no shot,” Tony sighed. “I’ll be okay.”

“Then at least let me make you some breakfast.”

Tony smiled genuinely. “Like you need to talk me into that.”

Downstairs in the kitchen, Tony was sure to eat everything his mom put in front of him. He didn’t have much of an appetite, but wanted to create the illusion that he was okay so she wouldn’t worry about him all day. Little did he know, she was going to do that regardless of whether or not he finished his waffles.

While he ate, Maria moved about the kitchen, cleaning up the various dishes that had been left in the sink and on the counter by her son and husband the past few days.

“Just leave that,” Tony said around a mouthful of waffle. “I’ll do it before I go to work.”

She waved him off. “You know I can’t stand the way you load the dishwasher.”

With a smile, Tony finished the rest of his breakfast. He got up to rinse his plate and put it in the dishwasher theatrically, with an approving nod from his mom at his placement. Next was another cup of coffee, which he was definitely going to need if he was going to stay awake for at least the next fifteen or so hours.

After making herself another cup as well, Maria went around the island and settled into a seat, looking over a magazine. Tony stood by the sink, their positions now reversed.

“Mom?” She looked up at him in response. “Does, um...does dad know?”

Maria frowned. “Does dad know what, sweetie?”

Tony looked down at the mug in his hands. “That I’m – about me and Stephen.”

“Have you told him?”

“I haven’t even technically told you,” Tony mumbled. He put his mug down on the counter. “I don’t know how I’d tell him.”

“Tony.” He finally looked up again. “I won’t pretend to know what this is like for you, but your father loves you.”

“I know,” Tony all but whispered. “But I’m afraid he won’t anymore if I tell him.”

Maria felt tears stinging her eyes. “How can you think that?”

Tony tried to shrug, but didn’t exactly have the strength. “Everything I do is wrong. I always disappoint him. And I don’t want -” he had to take a deep breath to stave off more tears. “I don’t want anything else to change. Losing Jarvis isn’t something I think I’ll ever get over. So if things get worse, I’m scared _I’ll_ get worse.”

The realization that their only son was afraid to tell her husband about his sexuality wasn’t an easy one for Maria to stomach. She blamed herself for not being a better referee between the two, for letting it get to the point where Tony would ever think his father would stop loving him.

“Nothing is going to get worse,” Maria promised as she got out of her chair and walked around the island to Tony. She put her hands on his folded arms, squeezing lightly. “I would never dream of telling you how to handle something like this. I trust you, and it’s really neither of our businesses.”

Tony swallowed. “But?”

“No but,” she replied, shaking her head. “This is your life, your decision. Another choice you have to make.”

“And we all know I’m great at making decisions,” Tony groaned. He put his hands on the counter on either side when Maria dropped hers from his arms. “When did you figure it out?”

Maria smiled slyly at her son. “I had a hunch for a while.”

Tony nodded once. “And you’re – I mean, you don’t ow! What was that for?!”

A sharp pinch to his side cut him off. “Were you just about to ask me if I was okay with it?” she challenged. Tony could only raise an eyebrow and fight a smirk. “ _That’s_ what it was for."

In a swift motion, Tony was pulling her into a tight hug, kissing her cheek as he did so. “Thank you,” he exhaled into the embrace. “I love you. I don’t tell you that enough.”

“No, you don’t,” she teased. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

Several cups of coffee and a hot shower later, Tony was heading off to the park. He still didn’t feel great, but was better than he had been as the morning was beginning.

The day went almost exactly the same as the previous one had, except he didn’t see Stephen at all. The park wasn’t all that big, but the other man would certainly be able to avoid him all day if he set his mind to it. Which Tony was sure Stephen had.

What he didn’t know was that Stephen had gone to work early both days to talk to Owen before the park opened. Tony had no idea that they had a similar conversation to the one he and his mom had that very morning. He didn’t know that Stephen was just as terrified as Tony that he had screwed everything up.

So he was very surprised to find Stephen leaning up against his car at the end of the day, arms crossed over his chest, his bike resting against the bumped.

He looked up as Tony came to a stop upon seeing him. “Hey,” he said shyly. “Can I have a ride home?”


	16. Chapter 16

Silence filled the car as Tony drove them back home. He was glad for it, for having a chance to get his thoughts organized. Seeing Stephen at his car was surprising, and he realized just how unprepared he really was to talk to him.

As they were pulling into his driveway, Stephen finally spoke.

“I don’t know how we do this,” he all but whispered.

Tony found himself afraid to ask, but forced himself to. “Do what?”

He was convinced Stephen was going to reply with something along the lines of how to end things, how to break up. And the longer he was quiet, the more sure Tony was. But thankfully, he was just getting ahead of himself.

“I haven’t been this tired since Donna died,” Stephen thought out loud. He turned to look at Tony and realized he had actually spoken the words, but decided to pretend he didn’t. “Do you want to come inside and talk?”

Tony was nodding before Stephen had even finished speaking. He followed him through the house to the back porch. While Stephen doubled back inside for waters, Tony was trying to figure out if it was a bad thing that they hadn’t gone up to Stephen’s room, where they spent most of their time when they were here. Not that Tony expected anything to happen, of course, but was this more of a break up atmosphere? As opposed to a working things out atmosphere? Or was he just -

His thoughts were interrupted by Stephen handing him a cold bottle of water. He smiled his thanks before opening it and taking a long drink. Stephen sat on the outdoor couch next to him, which Tony took as a good sign.

Clearing his throat did nothing, so Tony took a more direct approach. “Do you want me to start?”

“There’s nothing for you to say,” Stephen said. Tony felt his heart sink. “You said it all already, and I didn’t listen.”

Tony frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“I know. And it’s my fault.” Stephen put the bottle in his hands down so he could focus on Tony. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Tony. I overreacted about Haley because I’m worried about what’s going to happen after this summer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t want to bring it up so soon. We have over a month before we go back to school, and we haven’t even...” he trailed off, but Tony knew what he was going to say. _Had sex yet_ hung in the air between them as if Stephen had said it aloud. “But the reason that Haley got to me so much was because I know that I don’t fit into that lifestyle, and I’m scared that when you go back to school that’s what you’re going to want.”

Tony still wasn’t following. “I’m going to want what?” he asked. Stephen averted his eyes, and that was more telling than any words would have been. “You think I’m going to want to go back to partying all the time and sleeping around.” It wasn’t a question.

Stephen found the courage to look back up at Tony. “You went through something terrible. I get that, better than most people. What I can’t stop thinking about – what _hurts_ is that while you were struggling, you didn’t want to reach out to me. People like Haley got your attention instead. I would have dropped everything and been on the first train or even flight to you if you had so much as texted me. I’m just scared that things are the way they are between us because it’s easy. We live next door to each other and work together. I’m worried about what will happen when things get hard.”

“I didn’t reach out to you because I didn’t know what I was doing, not because I didn’t want to,” Tony replied the instant Stephen had finished. “You’re not wrong for thinking that way, because that’s how I acted. But it’s not what I want to go back to, Steph. I don’t care how far away we’ll be or how different it will be from being here together. I want to be with you no matter where we are.”

“I’m not like you, Tony,” Stephen continued. “I don’t get invited to parties. I don’t have any friends that I hang out with at school other than to study with occasionally. That’s how it’s always been for me. I just – if this is only going to be a summer thing, then fine. I’ll take what I can get. But I’d rather know now.”

Tony had to swallow before he could speak. “I’ll transfer to Johns Hopkins.”

Stephen blinked. “What?”

“If that’s what it takes for you to believe me, I’ll do it. I don’t want a summer thing. I want everything with you. Yeah, it’ll be harder when we’re at school. But not impossible. If you don’t trust me, I get it. That’s on me.”

Stephen shook his head slowly. “Are you seriously telling me you would leave the top engineering school _in the world_ to go to school with me to make me feel better?”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation in Tony’s voice. His eyes were clear and sure. Stephen saw nothing but sincerity and determination there.

He found himself letting out a breathy laugh. “You’re fucking crazy.”

“About you, yeah,” Tony added, making Stephen laugh again. “I’ve got a lot to make up for, and I want you to know I’m serious about this.”

“You don’t have anything to make up for. You told me the truth. Seeing you recognize that you did know Haley freaked me out at first, but then I realized how wrong I had been.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“You said you never knew her name. That you were drunk and didn’t even remember that night.”

“Right.”

“But she did,” Stephen said, his voice breaking slightly. “She very clearly remembered everything, so even if she was drinking, it wasn’t as much as you had been. Which means she took advantage of you.”

Tony started to shake his head. “No, I was drunk, but I -”

“If you were too drunk to remember, how can you say that you knew what you were doing?” Stephen wanted to know. He wasn’t angry, he was upset. Not at Tony, but for him.

Which caught Tony off guard. He didn’t know how to respond to that. “I, uh, I guess I don’t know,” he admitted. “Other than that was just what I was doing pretty regularly.”

“That doesn’t make it okay,” Stephen replied. “I’m sorry I overreacted and wouldn’t listen to you. I’m sorry I didn’t realize what it meant when you said you didn’t remember.”

The near despair Tony saw in Stephen’s gray eyes was the last thing he had been expecting to happen during this conversation, but he was so relieved to see it. He could see that Stephen finally did understand what he had been going through, and while it clearly was a lot for him to process and was upsetting, it ended in a place where it seemed they could move forward.

“So you’re not breaking up with me?” Tony found himself asking, needing to know for sure.

Stephen smiled and huffed a laugh. “No. God no. I was actually afraid you were going to want to break up with me after the way I treated you the last few days.”

Tony scrunched his nose. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I told you I understood, that I was okay with everything you told me and then flipped out when there was a miscommunication. Clearly I’m inept at relationships and have no idea how to navigate this.”

“You say that like I’m any better,” Tony said, getting another smile out of Stephen. “While I can’t say the last two days have been much fun, I’m kind of glad it happened.”

“Yeah?”

Tony nodded. “I feel like you’re too afraid to tell me what’s on your mind. I don’t want you to be scared to tell me that you were pissed at me for cutting you out the way I did and how it made you feel. You need to know that I’d rather go blind than let you down again, Steph. The more we talk about things, the more I can keep from fucking up again.”

“But I can’t hold things against you after I forgave you for them,” Stephen pointed out.

“So how about we both accept each other’s apologies and have dinner together?” Tony offered suddenly. “I missed you more than I thought possible the last two days and I just want to get past this. Unless there’s more you think we need to -”

He was stopped mid sentence by Stephen’s lips pressing over his. Tony immediately opened his mouth, licking into Stephen’s to deepen the embrace. Stephen’s fingers sifted into Tony’s hair, holding him in place while they kissed everything away.

When they broke apart, Stephen kept his hand in Tony’s hair. “So is that a yes to dinner, or?”

In the middle of a laugh, Stephen kissed him again. “That’s a definite yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the main reason I kept this part is in because I am unable to write anything purely soft and fluffy. I can't help myself, I guess. A large part was also that I really liked how the scene with Tony and Maria turned out. The brief moment we saw of them together in Civil War always stuck with me and I wanted to expand on her character just a bit.
> 
> And I left this in because these two are so human. I didn't feel it was realistic to have this picture perfect summer romance without a hint of any drama or conflict. Stephen is insecure, and that just doesn't go away overnight. They're both emotional characters, and sometimes, emotions can get the better of us. I really do believe that difficulties can bring people closer together, which is what I wanted to illustrate here. I hope I did so effectively. 
> 
> Again, thank you all for the overwhelmingly positive response to this so far. Next two will be up tomorrow morning!


	17. Chapter 17

The heat wave from the last week had finally snapped, giving way to more tolerable weather. The afternoon was more than pleasant, especially with the breeze coming off the ocean. Stephen was stretched out on the outdoor couch reading while his mother, father and Maria Stark were chatting on the other side of the back porch. Tony and Howard were playing golf in some tournament, but were expected back soon for dinner.

Things between the young couple went back to normal rather quickly over the last week. They talked a bit more about how things would work in the future. Tony’s plans for after graduation were pretty much already set – he would start working for his father’s company while also pursuing various graduate degrees. Hesitantly, Stephen mentioned he was looking at medical school in New York, specifically Columbia. Tony jumped right on board, and while Stephen was still on the nervous side, he felt much better about it knowing that Tony was more than willing to do whatever it took to keep the relationship going.

“Oh, here they come.”

Stephen looked up when he heard Maria’s announcement. He could see Tony and Howard walking across the sand towards the house. As they got closer, Tony turned and looked at his dad, giving way for the sun to hit upon his left cheek and highlight the dark bruise forming there.

Immediately, Stephen’s heart jumped into his throat. He knew Tony and his father had a rocky relationship, but he never would have thought Howard was outright physically abusive. But the pair were laughing, and as they approached the stairs, Howard had even put his arm around Tony’s shoulders, which the younger man seemed to welcome.

“What happened to you?” Maria demanded upon seeing her son’s face, rising from her seat and going over to him to get a better look.

Howard answered before Tony could. “Our son was convinced he could hit a shot around a tree.”

Tony smirked. “The ball hit the tree, bounced off, and then hit me.”

“You’re kidding,” Maria said, dropping her hands from Tony’s face to her sides. “What made you think you could do that?”

“It’s simple physics, really,” Tony shrugged.

“Don’t play much golf, huh Tony?” Eugene Strange asked.

Tony laughed. “No sir, I do not. And we won’t be playing any more in this tournament. We finished so low we don’t have a slot for the next round tomorrow.” He sounded slightly worried about that, as if it would be another thing Howard would be disappointed in him for.

“Thank God,” Howard said instead, taking the open seat next to his wife. “Why can’t I just donate extra money and not have to play at all?”

“Because then you wouldn’t get to spend the quality time with your son,” Maria pointed out.

“Look at him!” Howard laughed, pointing at Tony as he sat in the place Stephen’s legs vacated. “Next time we’ll just work in the garage or something. Keep him from losing an eye.”

A quick glance at Tony told Stephen that he wasn’t taking his father’s comments to heart. Actually, he looked happier than Stephen had ever seen him after spending an extended period of time with Howard. He couldn’t really remember a time when he had seen the father and son smiling and laughing with one another like this.

“I liked the driving range,” Tony chimed in. “And hey, I was pretty good at mini golf.”

Stephen huffed. “You cheated. The entire time.”

“I don’t see your point.”

After declaring that watching his son injure himself on the golf course certainly worked up an appetite, Howard and Eugene began getting the grill ready dinner.

“I’m going to assume by your empty hands that the two of you forgot to go to the store on your way back and pick up the chicken wings you both so desperately wanted,” Maria asked, hands on her hips.

Tony and Howard exchanged a panicked look. “No, we didn’t forget,” the elder Stark answered. “Tony just wanted Stephen’s input on, uh, on dessert.”

On cue, Tony turned to Stephen. “Feel like taking a ride to the store?”

“Well I can’t let you go by yourself,” Stephen sighed dramatically.

“Get the teriyaki ones,” Howard instructed as he handed Tony a roll of bills. “And whatever else you two feel is appropriate. Maybe an eye patch.”

The smile on Tony’s face was contagious. Stephen found himself smiling at the exchange just as broadly as his boyfriend was.

They made quick work of their duties at the store, grabbing what they needed and plenty of what they didn’t, but wanted anyway. After loading the bags into the back of Tony’s SUV they climbed in to head back to the house, but Tony hesitated in reaching for the gear shift. Instead he turned to Stephen, chewing his lip nervously.

“What’s wrong?” Stephen asked, suddenly afraid he had missed something.

“Nothing,” Tony said, shaking his head. “Today was a really good day. Like, really good. We’ve never gone that long without arguing before. Even though I absolutely suck at golf, he was in a good mood the entire day.”

“That’s great, Tony,” Stephen said with a smile.

“I want to tell him.”

Stephen frowned slightly. “Tell him what?”

“About us,” Tony said after a second. “Or, if you’re not comfortable with that yet, at least that I’m bisexual.” Stephen could only stare, and Tony started to ramble. “My mom knows. I didn’t tell her, not really. She just figured it out, because I was so upset that night when we weren’t talking. And she’s smarter than me and my dad combined, so it didn’t take much for her to put it together. But he doesn’t know, and I want to tell him so he doesn’t find out some other way.”

“I want to tell my parents, too,” Stephen heard himself saying before he realized he was even going to speak. “I think they already know, in a way. But I want to say it.” He considered Tony for a moment. “Do you think we should tell them together? Tonight?”

Tony sighed. “I kept thinking about it all day. It does feel like perfect timing, but I don’t want to ruin it if it’s the last good day we’ll ever have.”

It was no secret that Tony was all but convinced his father would disown him upon hearing the news. At best, he figured they would simply ignore each other and never speak again. Stephen didn’t know Howard as well as Tony did, but he was as sure as he could be that Tony’s worst fears weren’t going to come true.

“I don’t think it will be,” Stephen said softly. “But this is up to you, Tony. Whatever you think is the best way to do it.”

“You would want to do it together?” Tony asked quietly.

Stephen tried to shrug, but couldn’t really manage it. “I like the idea of having you next to me. It makes it seem like we’re serious, like we know what we’re doing I guess. But I get that it’s not the typical way people come out to their parents.”

“Fuck typical,” Tony muttered. “It’s our choice, and we can do it how we want. It’s not like our parents are strangers. They spend almost as much time together as we do.”

Stephen nodded and let a few moments of silence pass. “Does that mean you want to do it tonight?”

“Yes,” Tony answered without any hesitation. “As long as you’re sure.”

“I am,” Stephen agreed.

Tony slid his hand into Stephen’s and smiled. “Good. Now...what the hell are we going to say?”

* * *

If their parents noticed the change in their sons when they returned from the store, no one let on to it. While helping get all the food ready, Tony and Stephen were both very quiet and kept glancing over at each other nervously. They came up with a plan that if either of them changed their mind prior to the reveal, the sign would be to ask the other if they had ordered their books for next semester yet. Easy enough to suddenly bring up without causing any suspicion.

Tony almost said it less than an hour after they came back. His dad was still in a great mood, joking with him and then in the same breath actually showing concern for his black eye.

“It doesn’t look swollen enough to have broken anything,” Howard observed for the third time that day. “You can see fine, right?”

“Yeah,” Tony assured with a nod. “Everything is in doubles like usual.”

“Don’t let your mother hear you say that,” Howard said with a laugh.

Throughout the meal, the adults talked nonstop as they usually did. Tony and Stephen were starting to think that they wouldn’t ever have a chance to get a word in, never mind change the direction of the conversation completely.

But then Maria turned the attention to them effortlessly in a way that made Tony feel for certain that she had the ability to read minds. There was no other explanation.

“You boys have been awfully quiet,” she observed innocently. “What have you got planned for the rest of your summer?”

It wasn’t the perfect segway, but was the best they were going to get and they both knew it. Tony discreetly put his hand on Stephen’s knee under the table, and it was instantly covered by Stephen’s own, squeezing firmly in reassurance.

“Well, uh,” Tony stammered before taking a drink from his soda. “Nothing special, really, I don’t think. But there’s something we want to tell you guys.”

Before he could lose his nerve, Stephen took over when his parents looked at his expectantly. “So I don’t really know how else to say it other than to just say it. I’m gay.” The sudden disclosure took the Stranges off guard effectively. “I’m sorry that this is so out of nowhere, but the reason I’m telling you this now is, uh, well...”

He trailed off, looking down at his mostly empty plate before glancing over at Tony, who picked up where Stephen had left off.

“I’m bisexual,” Tony reported, looking right at his father. “And we’re telling you all this right now because since the beginning of this summer, we – Stephen and I – we’ve been dating. We are dating. Each other.”

The delivery wasn’t the smoothest, but it got the point across. For several moments, Howard looked back at Tony before breaking eye contact to look over at his wife, who was still looking at their son with a warm smile. He then looked over to Eugene and Beverly, who returned his puzzled gaze.

“I think I’m missing something,” Howard finally said. Tony’s hand clenched around Stephen’s in a near death drip. “Is this new information to you?” he asked the Stranges.

Beverly took the initiative to speak for her and her husband. “Well, in the sense that it’s the first time we’ve heard it directly, yes,” she started. “But I can’t say it’s a surprise.”

“I’m sorry,” Howard said, holding up his hands. “I guess I just didn’t think it was a secret.”

Tony could barely hear over the blood rushing in his ears and was sure he was mistaken. “You knew?”

“You’re not exactly subtle, kid,” Howard said with a laugh. “Honestly, I thought this had been a thing since last summer.”

“I’m with Howard there,” Eugene agreed. “Sorry if we ruined your moment, boys.”

At that, Tony and Stephen burst out laughing. It was mostly laced with relief, but genuine amusement was definitely in there as well. Their hands were still tangled together under the table, the grip never loosening while their pent up anxieties left their lungs steadily.

After a few minutes of teasing the young men, the conversation flowed towards other topics and moved on. Tony and Stephen cleared the table for dessert in order to steal a few minutes alone together in the kitchen under the guise of doing the dishes.

The second Stephen’s arms were empty of the plates and glasses, Tony was hugging him hard. Stephen laughed softly, but hugged him back just a firmly.

“I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong,” Tony mumbled into Stephen’s shoulder.

Stephen pressed a kiss to the side of Tony’s head. “I definitely did not see that coming.”

Tony pulled back to look up at Stephen, but kept his arms looped around him. Stephen pressed his lips to Tony’s sweetly, the pair totally uncaring at the prospect of anyone else coming into the kitchen and seeing them.

Eventually, they brought the ice cream and toppings out onto the porch and set to work on the final course of the night. After Tony and Stephen did another round of dishes, the Stark family took their leave. The plan was for Tony to head home and shower, with Stephen getting his bag together for work the next day before heading across the sand to watch a movie and spend the night. There was no awkwardness associated with that plan, even with everyone now knowing for sure the full extent of their involvement.

Back at their house, Howard grabbed Tony gently by the shoulder when they reached the back deck to hold him back from going inside. The younger felt his heart stutter slightly, immediately assuming that what had transpired at dinner had simply been an act and that the real reaction was about to come out.

Again, he was completely wrong.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that scared before.”

Tony tried to shrug it off. “Just nervous, I guess.”

Howard nodded once. “That’s my fault.” Before Tony could reply, he continued. “I know I’m not the easiest man to talk to. Or the easiest man in general. I’ve never...” he shook his head slowly as he ran out of words. “I’m sorry, Tony. For ever doing anything that would make you think I wouldn’t be there for you. I never wanted you to believe that I’m not extremely proud of you. I’m sorry, for making you think anything could change the fact that you’re my son and I will always love you.”

For a few moments, Tony couldn’t respond. “I just – I didn’t want things to change,” he finally stammered.

“Nothing is going to change,” Howard promised. “Stephen is a good kid. I’m happy you’re happy. And, hey, now we don’t have to worry about you getting anyone pregnant.” A beat passed. “Did I just ruin this whole thing?”

Tony breathed a laugh. “No. You didn’t.” He reached out and pulled the older man into a hug. “I love you too, dad.”

Just over an hour later, Tony was freshly showered and changed into clean clothes. Stephen appeared right on time, and the pair wasted no time settling into the bonus room against countless pillows and under a mountain of blankets. With Tony’s arm wrapped securely around his shoulders, Stephen let his head fall against Tony’s chest and shifted until he had tangled their legs together perfectly.

Listening to Tony’s heartbeat almost lulled Stephen to sleep. But he was too content to drift off just yet. The feel of the warm body against his was nothing short of the best feeling in the world, as far as Stephen was concerned.

Pulling Stephen closer, Tony dropped his head to let his chin rest against Stephen’s. He sighed happily, earning a slight chuckle from his cuddle buddy.

“What are you laughing at?” Tony wanted to know.

“Just observing how adorable you are,” Stephen sighed.

Tony huffed. “I’m not adorable.”

“You love to snuggle.”

“I love to snuggle _you_ ,” Tony corrected. “And that is not something I will apologize for.”

Stephen craned his neck so he could smirk at Tony. “Not asking you to.” He punctuated that with a firm kiss to Tony’s lips.

The kiss deepened, but didn’t escalate. While the day had been more than a good one, it had still been extremely emotional and left them both the best kind of tired. They let their bodies melt into the couch as they kissed, using their mouths to convey their feelings in a way other than using words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My inspiration for this chapter is the tv show Schitt's Creek. The creator, Dan Levy, said that the reason there's no homophobia displayed on his show is because he has no patience for it, and has decided to create a world where it simply doesn't exist because it shouldn't exist. And that really stuck with me and was something I wanted to do here. If Howard Stark, notorious jerk and all around terrible father, can be a decent human being towards his son about it, then there's no excuse for anyone else. I understand that unfortunately, that's not the case for a lot of people, and I in no way am trying to be insensitive towards that. This is just how it should be, for everyone.


	18. Chapter 18

“I want to have sex with you.”

The sudden declaration made Tony’s hand freeze halfway to where it was bringing his water bottle to his mouth. He looked over at Stephen, whose face could not have been any redder if he had sat out in the sun for a week straight. They were currently in the sun, on the beach behind Tony’s house. A comfortable silence had stretched for almost an hour while Stephen read and Tony went in and out of the ocean. He had just returned and flopped back into his chair when Stephen spoke.

Tony put his drink down and regarded Stephen for a second. “Like, right now?”

The joke made Stephen smile, but his embarrassment stayed. “I was thinking, uh, maybe tonight, with your parents being gone,” he muttered. “Sorry if bringing it up ruins it.”

“Hey, no,” Tony said, reaching over and taking Stephen’s hand. “Of course it doesn’t. It’s something we should definitely talk about before anything happens.”

Stephen nodded slightly. “I figured it was a good idea to be sure that we would have the things we would need.” He kept his eyes anywhere but on Tony.

“I do.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Not that I was assuming or expecting anything, I swear. I just wanted to be prepared for whenever you – whenever _we_ were ready.”

“Are you?” Stephen asked, biting his lip as he finally looked over at Tony. “Ready, I mean. Or do you even want to?”

“Of course I do,” Tony replied, keeping himself from laughing at the absurdity of Stephen’s question. “And yes, I’m ready. But I don’t want that to influence you at all.”

Stephen shrugged. “It does, though. I wouldn’t want to if you weren’t there yet.”

“Well, it sounds like we both are,” Tony breathed more than said. “Have you thought at all about – I mean, do you have a preference as to, uh, how you want to do it?”

Stephen nodded ever so slightly. “I thought that you could kind of, um, take the lead I guess. Be the one on...top. If you wanted.”

Goosebumps spread across Tony’s skin despite the heat of the sun. “Honestly, I could go either way. As long as you’re comfortable.”

“I know you’ve never been with a guy either,” Stephen started. “But I’d be too scared to hurt you. I don’t know what I’m doing and don’t want to do anything wrong. So maybe to start, this way makes the most sense? And then I can kind of learn from you before we, uh, switch.”

“Are you sure?” Tony was somehow able to ask. “You won’t hurt me. I haven’t been with a guy, but I’ve...well, you know. Experimented. It wouldn’t be totally new to my body.”

A low groan came out of Stephen’s lungs before he could stop it. The thought of Tony touching himself that way almost made him beg for Tony to take him then and there. But maybe sex on the beach could come later on down the road.

“I’m sure,” Stephen finally managed, ignoring the smirk his reaction had drawn onto Tony’s lips. “Do you – is that okay with you?”

It was Tony’s turn to make a less than controlled noise. “Yes, Stephen. Anything, as long as it’s with you, is more than okay.”

With a nod from Stephen, they fell into a comfortable silence, sitting hand in hand. It was obvious they were both still thinking about the exact same thing, but let each other stay with their thoughts for the time being. Tony’s thumb was tracing up and down the back of Stephen’s hand absently as they sat together while the afternoon sun started its slow descent in the sky above them.

Truth be told, Stephen had been ready for the next step for quite some time. The night they told their parents about their relationship, he had almost told Tony. But he wanted to leave it be and let it be about them and their parents, and save the rest of it for another night.

When he saw Tony coming out of the ocean, running his hands through his hair, water glistening against his perfectly tanned skin, Stephen didn’t know what he could possibly wait for any longer. To him, Tony was perfect in every single way, and he had waited long enough.

“Hey, Steph.” Tony’s gentle voice pulled him from his own head. He turned to look at his boyfriend, who was smiling shyly over at him. “There’s something I want to tell you before tonight.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Okay,” he replied simply.

Tony shifted a bit in his seat, but kept a firm grip on Stephen’s hand. “This wasn’t exactly how I wanted to tell you, but I don’t want to do it after anything else happens between us because I don’t want you to think it’s just because of that. No matter what happens or doesn’t happen, I wanted you to know that I love you.” Stephen felt his throat go dry as Tony took a breath and repeated himself. “I love you, Stephen.”

With just a split second’s hesitation while his mind caught up, Stephen smiled. “I love you too, Tony.”

The brunet smiled just as widely, but not for long before he leaned in and kissed Stephen soundly.

“I was trying to come up with this big romantic gesture to tell you,” Tony explained when they parted. “But everything I came up with was way over the top and stuff you would have hated.”

Stephen laughed softly. “I don’t think I would ever hate you telling me that,” he mused. “But I’ll take your word for it.”

“Believe me, this is definitely for the best. But I just – I didn’t say that to make you feel like you have to go through with anything. If you change your mind, that’s fine. It’s not about that, I just -”

“I know, Tony,” Stephen cut in. “But I’m not going to change my mind. In fact, I was thinking that we don’t need to wait until tonight, right?”

Tony felt his heart skip a beat. “No, we sure don’t.”

Stephen nodded once. “So maybe we could start making our way inside?”

All Tony could do was nod.

They left the beach chairs and towels in the pool area before heading inside. Once in the cool air of the house, Tony slid his hand into Stephen’s as they silently went upstairs and into Tony’s bedroom. Stephen watched as Tony closed the door behind them, his heart beating so fast he was sure it was going to burst through his chest at any second.

But then Tony turned back to him, and smiled. The sight made Stephen’s heart skip a beat, and then calm down entirely. He tugged on the shorter man’s hand until their bodies came together. He leaned forward until their lips met, tasting the salt from the ocean on Tony’s mouth and tongue.

“I’m going to take a quick shower,” Tony relayed when they parted. Stephen started to nod. “Could I convince you to join?”

Less than thirty seconds later, Tony had his answer.

Under the warm spray of the water, they kissed madly. Tony pressed Stephen up against the tiled wall, holding him in place with his own body. He ground his hips forward into Stephen’s, sliding their half hard lengths together while he sucked at Stephen’s tongue.

Reluctantly, he stepped back to allow both of them to catch their breath. Stephen followed Tony’s lead in scrubbing some shampoo through his hair and rinsing off with some body wash to get the sand and sea off of them. Once they were clean, Stephen pulled Tony back against him and wrapped his hand around their now full erections.

“Jesus, Steph,” Tony breathed before licking at Stephen’s neck. “I can’t wait to feel you.”

Stephen’s dick jumped at the words, making Tony bite down gently at the junction of Stephen’s neck and shoulder. He then made the decision that they were clean enough and reached over, turning the water off and following close behind Tony out of the shower.

They dried off in record time. Their hair was still fairly wet, but it was hard to care when they were naked, wrapped up in each other and making out on Tony’s bed. Stephen could only watch breathlessly as Tony kissed down his body to his cock, sucking him down swiftly.

As good as it felt to have Tony’s mouth around him, Stephen wanted more. He needed more. So he tugged at Tony’s hair until he popped off with an obscene sound and looked up at him, a hand lazily stroking his slick length.

“I want you, Tony,” he said, shocked at his steady his voice was. “Please.”

Tony nodded through his heavy breathing. He got to his knees and shuffled up the bed, over to the bedside table where he withdrew a brand new bottle of lube and a condom, to which Stephen shook his head slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked.

“No condom,” Stephen replied. “I just want to feel you.” Tony looked down at the packet in his hand. “You said you were tested.”

Tony nodded. “I was. Multiple times. Right before I came here, too. But -”

“I trust you,” Stephen said. He reached out and wrapped his hand around Tony’s dick, which was standing proudly against his stomach. His hips jerked forward involuntarily into the firm grip. “I just want you.”

There wasn’t any way Tony could argue with that. So he didn’t.

Instead, he moved back down to kiss Stephen again. He kept it as slow as he could, trying to get Stephen to relax as opposed to more worked up. His hands stroked down Stephen’s sides to his hips, dipping in between his legs slowly.

“I’ve played with myself enough to know what to expect,” Stephen sighed into Tony’s ear. The man above him shuddered at that. He knew Stephen had been too embarrassed to admit as much back on the beach, but the fact that he was so comfortable and turned on now to say that out loud went straight to Tony’s groin. “What do you want me to do?”

“Breathe,” Tony replied simply. “And talk to me. Let me know if something doesn’t feel right or you want me to stop.”

Instead of telling Tony that was the least likely thing he could think of happening, he nodded his agreement instead. He watched intently as Tony poured a generous amount of lube onto his fingers before grabbing a pillow and shifting down between Stephen’s legs. With his hips lifted off the bed, Tony was able to slide the pillow underneath him and allow for the angle he needed.

Even at the first exploratory circling of Tony’s finger around his rim, Stephen saw stars.

The prep was as arousing for Tony as it was for Stephen. Seeing the man below him coming apart slowly as Tony’s fingers opened him up was intoxicating. He was as thorough as he could be without teasing. As he went, he laid back down half on top and half next to Stephen, kissing his chest and neck as he scissored his fingers apart. Stephen’s breathing consisted purely of pants and moans. After several minutes of Tony’s three fingers splitting inside him, Stephen was all but begging.

“Please, Tony,” he moaned. “I’m ready for you. I need you now.”

Tony’s throat was too dry to respond verbally. He moved back between Stephen’s legs and was about to reach for the lube, but the other man beat him to it. More than enough was poured onto Stephen’s palm before he reached out and grasped Tony’s erection firmly, coating it with long, sure strokes.

Finally, all that was left was the main event.

“Do you want me to turn over?” Stephen managed to ask.

“I want to see you,” Tony responded. “But – is that how you want to be?”

Stephen shook his head. “No. I want you like this.”

After pressing his tip to Stephen’s entrance, Tony paused. “Breathe with me, Steph.”

That was easy to say before Tony was sliding into him. Stephen tried, he really did. But the sensation of being stretched to what he was sure was his absolute limit knocked the air from his lungs. He felt Tony pause, only about halfway in, and then hot lips were on his neck, sucking lightly. The feeling calmed him, and Stephen was able to take a deep breath and relax his body around Tony’s perfectly throbbing dick. His hands settled on Tony’s hips, pulling him the rest of the way flush with his body.

He tried to keep his legs around Tony’s waist, but they fell away when he started moving.

Admittedly, they both likely romanticized it in their minds. But to them, it was absolutely perfect. Any awkwardness quickly went away when their bodies came together. Tony set a slow but steady pace, moving halfway out of Stephen before thrusting back in until he started to feel resistance. As often as he could, he kissed Stephen, sliding their tongues together in the same rhythm as their hips were moving.

“Does this feel good?”

Stephen slid a hand up from Tony’s hip to claw into his back. “Fuck. Yes,” he breathed. He usually felt silly in anything he said to Tony while they were together, but at the moment he decided he didn’t care. “It’s amazing having you inside me.”

The groan that came from Tony told Stephen his words weren’t silly, after all.

Despite the bundle of nerves at the base of his spine screaming at him to go harder and faster, Tony kept himself in check. He paid attention to every little movement from Stephen. He watched his face, ensuring it was reflecting pleasure with no hints of pain or discomfort. Bracing himself on his left arm, he wrapped his hand around Stephen’s neglected cock and started stroking him in time with his thrusts.

“You’re fucking perfect, Stephen,” Tony praised. “God you have no idea how good you feel.”

It was suddenly almost too much. The weight of Tony on top of him was so intimate, dialing all the sensations he was feeling to eleven. Stephen couldn’t get enough of the moans and breathy pants Tony was exhaling constantly, taking pride in the sure signs that the other man was thoroughly enjoying this as well. A particularly deep thrust brushed against Stephen’s prostate, and he knew that the next time that happened, he was done for.

“Tony, I’m so close,” he warned. Tony hit that spot again and flicked the head of Stephen’s cock with his thumb at the same time, and that was it. “Fuck I’m coming _JesusChristTonydon’tstop_.”

Against his will, Tony’s hips jerked out of his control. His body was chasing his own release while Stephen’s spilled over his hand and onto his own stomach. Tony moaned at the sight, and was just about there when Stephen craned his neck up and bit at Tony’s neck, right on the sensitive spot below his right ear, sending him over the edge.

Somehow, Tony had the wherewithal to slide out of Stephen’s body after a moment and shift to his left before falling to the pillows next to him. Stephen’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he was breathing as if he had just run a marathon.

Tony raised a shaky hand and brushed it across Stephen’s sweaty forehead and through his hair. He pressed a kiss to his shoulder and snuggled up against his side.

“Stephen? Talk to me, baby.”

The pet name made Stephen open his eyes. He immediately turned his head to look at Tony for a split second before kissing him soundly.

“I love you,” Stephen breathed against Tony’s lips. “That was so perfect. Tony I – god I love you.”

Tony exhaled a laugh and kissed Stephen again. “I love you, too. How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“I’m...” Stephen took a deep breath. “I’m very okay. Just a little – I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it.”

“What do you need?”

By way of response, Stephen rolled towards Tony. He ducked his head under the shorter man’s chin, looped an arm around his waist and tangled their legs together. He ignored the stickiness of their skin, uncaring about anything other than how well they fit together.

“This, for right now,” Stephen sighed happily into Tony’s chest. “And then probably another shower.”

Tony laughed into Stephen’s hair before kissing the top of his head. “That can surely be arranged.”

* * *

There were a lot of ways Stephen wished he could be more like Tony.

The brunet was way more outgoing. Everyone liked him and wanted to be around him. He was smart, funny, kind, energetic. Tony was never afraid to try something new. His personality was magnetic.

But, at the moment, the way Stephen wished he could be more like Tony was by making himself last long enough to fully enjoy the feeling of being inside him for the first time.

Less than a week had passed since their first time together. If there hadn’t been a fire burning between them before, there certainly was now. They couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, and it was almost becoming a problem at work, where they would sneak off wherever they could be alone to get each other off as quickly as possible before anyone came along.

At least they were good at it.

But now they were alone, in Stephen’s house, up in his room and on his bed. Tony had all but begged Stephen to take him. That was another way Stephen was finding he wished he could be like Tony. He was so unashamed and free with his pleasure. Even though Stephen was getting more and more verbal each time they were together, he still wanted to be better at telling Tony exactly how good the other man made him feel.

All of the air in Stephen’s lungs escaped when he bottomed out. Tony’s body was impossibly hot and tight around him that he couldn’t have stopped it if he had tried. The man beneath him wrapped his legs around Stephen’s waist, pulling him even deeper.

“Fuck. Stephen. Please move.”

Stephen tried to keep a consistent pace. He tried to keep his movements controlled and precise, but everything around him overtook that ability. When he looked down at Tony, the sight was one he would never forget. His face was flushed a deep pink. His lips were kiss swollen, hair an absolute mess from where Stephen’s fingers had tugged at it relentlessly. Sweat glistened against his skin, enticing Stephen to lean down and kiss across his chest while he thrust into him.

Tony moaned in appreciation. “God, baby, that feels so good.”

“You like it?” Stephen asked, trying to talk dirty but also wanting to be sure he was doing it right.

Hands gripping his hips hard enough to bruise told him he probably was, to which Tony enthusiastically agreed.

“Fuck yes. Just like that Stephen fucking _hell_.”

There was no way he was going to be able to last much longer. Stephen moaned into an almost whine, chasing the feeling of Tony’s perfect heat the second he pulled out. He let his head fall forward against Tony’s shoulder as his hips started to work faster.

“Tony,” Stephen groaned. “I can’t – I’m going to come. Fuck you feel so fucking good.”

Strong fingers tugged at his hair to maneuver his head back over Tony’s, where a slick tongue licked into his mouth. Tony kissed him dirtily.

“Come for me, Stephen,” he moaned against Stephen’s lips. “Come inside me.”

Like there was any way for Stephen to do anything _but_ that after hearing those words.

His hips worked with a mind of their own as his release crashed over him. The tightening of Tony’s body around his cock drew everything out of him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted Tony’s hand between their bodies furiously stroking his own throbbing dick. Wanting to be make himself involved in getting Tony over the edge, Stephen managed to duck his head and seal his mouth over Tony’s nipple, sucking hard and flicking his tongue over the hard nub. He felt as much as he heard the orgasm rip through the man under him a moment later.

Stephen lifted his head while he fought to get his breathing under control. He noticed Tony’s body was still shaking against him, and when he looked at him his eyes were staring up at the ceiling blankly while he breathed just as heavily as Stephen.

“Tony?” he rasped. He swallowed to try and get his voice back. “Are you okay?”

When no response came, Stephen felt his heart skip a beat. He slipped out of Tony and pushed himself up on his side, but before his anxiety could take over, Tony turned and looked at him with an exhausted smile.

“You sure you’ve never done that before?”

The laugh that burst from Stephen was a mix between relieved and overjoyed. It was short lived, however, due to Tony cupping the back of his neck and drawing him into a slow kiss.

“I, uh, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it last a little longer,” Stephen mumbled when they parted.

Tony huffed. “Are you kidding? Hey, look at me,” he coaxed when Stephen tried to hide his face against Tony’s neck. “How long it lasts has got nothing to do with how good it feels. How good _you_ feel. Was it okay for you?”

The tone of Tony’s question made Stephen laugh again. “Aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something? Can’t figure that one out?”

It was Tony’s turn to laugh. He nuzzled into Stephen, letting the taller man bury his face against his hair. “You make me wish I had only ever been with you,” Tony admitted quietly.

Stephen wrapped his arms tightly around Tony’s shoulders. “I don’t care that I wasn’t your first in every way. As long as I’ve got you now.”

“You’ve got me always,” Tony replied. “For as long as you want.”

“I want you forever,” Stephen said before he could stop himself. But once the words were out, he was glad he said them. Because it was true.

Tony moved so he could look Stephen in the eyes. He smiled at the sincerity he saw there. “I’m not gonna fight you on that, Steph. It sounds like a pretty good plan to me.”

After finally getting cleaned up, they ordered pizza and ate it outside on the back porch. Stephen’s parents wouldn’t be home until morning from yet another family wedding, so they had the place to themselves.

They couldn’t stop laughing as the night wore on. Stephen listened to Tony telling all the stories of how he torments Rhodey at school, making him wonder why the other man kept agreeing to be Tony’s roommate.

While they talked, they sat on opposite ends of the outdoor couch. Their legs met in the middle and overlapped comfortably. As far as either of them were concerned, they could stay right there forever and would be perfectly happy.

_Forever_.

The word suddenly hung in Stephen’s mind and made him lose focus on what Tony was saying. It became readily apparent that he was distracted when he noticed Tony’s brows furrow together.

“Steph? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Stephen replied after clearing his throat.

Tony rolled his eyes. “You haven’t gotten any better at lying, and probably never will. What’s up?”

“Do you really think we’ll stay together forever?”

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Tony’s confused expression immediately softened. He sat up, leaning forward so he could rest his hands on Stephen’s legs, stroking the skin slowly with his thumbs.

“I know that I want to,” Tony replied. “But I can’t lie to you and say that I know the future when I don’t.”

Stephen swallowed. “I know. That’s what’s scary. It’s not – you’re the first person I’ve ever dated, ever loved. The odds that you’ll be the _only_ person...” he trailed off and shook his head. “I can’t see myself ever feeling this way about anyone else. And I really, really don’t want to be wrong about this.”

“I don’t think you are,” Tony said. “When you meet the right person, it doesn’t matter how old you are or how long you knew them before or what the odds are. It’s not going to be easy, we know that. But nothing, no one could convince me that you’re not the right person for me. When I think about the future, my future, the most important thing in it is you. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know that much.”

“Have I told you lately how incredible you are?”

“Not in the last few hours, actually,” Tony said with a smile. “So you’re well overdue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always practice safe sex! But, I mean, getting tested first does count too.


	19. Chapter 19

Due to their inability and unwillingness to keep their hands (and mouths and...rest of their bodies) to themselves, Tony and Stephen managed to work up quite an appetite. Yet another day off had been spent mixed between making out in Tony’s pool, fooling around in the sun room, and then finally moving upstairs for the main event.

Or _events_ , really, because they couldn’t settle on just once.

But their need for sustenance finally got the better of them. They forced themselves into the shower together to clean off before getting dressed and setting out in search of food. Walking into town only took a few minutes, and the late afternoon was pleasant enough to allow for it.

Inevitably, they decided on burgers and shakes. Stephen was relatively positive Tony would eat that same meal for the rest of his life it he was allowed. Not that Stephen had any intentions of stopping him.

On their way back home, Stephen suddenly stopped at a cross walk and looked down the road to his left, even though they were headed right. Tony stepped off the curb before he realized Stephen had paused, so when he turned back he was looking up at him even more than their usual height difference allotted for.

“Steph? What’s wrong?”

“Will you come with me?” Stephen asked, still looking the other way.

Tony frowned at he mounted the curb to stand beside Stephen. “Where?”

“To the cemetery.” A beat passed before he finally looked back at Tony. “I haven’t gone in a long time. And it’s just down that way. I – would you mind? I know it’s totally out of the blue, but I just -”

“Of course I don’t mind,” Tony cut in gently. He slid his hand into Stephen’s and squeezed firmly. “Lead the way.”

With no memory of it, Stephen did so.

Before he could even process much of anything, they were standing in front of Donna’s grave.

Clearly, his parents had been here recently. The grass was neatly trimmed and colorful flowers adorned the base of the headstone. Without meaning to, Stephen pulled his hand from Tony’s, tugging his fingers through his hair while he attempted to keep the sudden onslaught of emotions at bay.

Thanks to what Tony did next, he wasn’t able to even come close.

Out of the corner of his teary eye, Stephen saw Tony sit on the grass. He folded his legs neatly and rested his hands where his ankles crossed.

Before Stephen could inquire, Tony started talking.

“Hi, Donna.”

All of the air went out of Stephen’s lungs. The tightness of his throat prevented any more from getting in for several long seconds. He knew his hands were shaking, but suddenly didn’t care about anything else at all.

“My name’s Tony. Stephen’s told me a lot about you. I would have loved to have been able to meet you. Definitely could use your help tormenting him. But I promise I’ll do my best to keep him at least slightly agitated at all times. I’m getting pretty good at it.”

Tears rolled steadily down Stephen’s cheeks and dropped to the blades of grass between where he was standing and Tony was sitting. His vision was completely blurred, but that didn’t deter him from looking back and forth from the headstone to the man speaking to it.

To his sister.

“I just want you to know that I would do absolutely anything for your brother. I am so, so in love with him. Which I’m sure you would have teased him about mercilessly. But you should also know how much he loves you, how much he misses you. He’s so proud of you and talks about you all the time. I don’t have any siblings, but hearing about you makes me wish I did.” Tony took a second and cleared his throat. “I’m really sorry about what happened to you. It’s just about the most unfair thing I’ve ever heard. So I promise you, I’m going to do what I can to take care of Stephen. And annoy him too, of course. But mostly just love him the way he deserves to be loved.”

A sob choked its way through Stephen’s throat, making Tony turn to look up at him. Just when he was about to ask if he was okay, if he had done something wrong, Stephen all but threw himself to the ground, wrapping his arms around Tony’s neck and hugging him as hard as he possibly could.

It didn’t take very long for Tony to realize he didn’t need to say anything else. He pulled Stephen and shifted them so that the taller man was in his lap, legs wrapped around Tony’s body as he cried into his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a very long time. After only a few seconds of having Stephen against him, Tony’s own tears started to fall from his eyes. He couldn’t help but think about Jarvis. He thought about how utterly wrong it was for Stephen to have had to go through something so impossibly devastating at such a young age.

His tears slowed well before Stephen’s did. As it started to get dark out, Stephen finally pulled back from his clutches around Tony, but he was unable to come up with anything to say. So Tony kissed his lips, his cheeks, his forehead while Stephen moved to sit on the grass beside him.

Without even having to ask, Tony stood. “Take your time,” he said softly, brushing his fingers through Stephen’s curls before walking away to give him some privacy.

A breath so shaky it wasn’t really a breath left Stephen’s lungs. He had to take several more before he was in any shape at all to try and get out what he had come here to say.

“So, uh,” he started uncertainly. “That’s the boy I told you about last summer. Tony. The one who reminds me of you sometimes. When he won’t shut up about something new he read about sharks, or why we just _have_ to go get ice cream sundaes. He’s – you would love him. I love him.”

Several minutes of silence passed while Stephen collected himself. Tony stood patiently fifty or so feet away, at the edge of the section where Donna was buried. He had his hands in the pockets of his shorts as he gazed around the beautiful development, trying not to stare at Stephen but also checking periodically to make sure he was alright.

After another breath, he began again. “I’m sorry I don’t come here more often. It’s just really hard. That’s not really a good excuse, but I just...god, I miss you. Just when it gets a bit easier, something will remind me of you and it gets worse again. But I want you to know that I think about you every single day. And it’s not all sad stuff, either. So don’t worry. Just the other night I was telling Tony about the time we spent an entire day building that boat out of drift wood, and then the second I picked you up and put you in it, the entire thing sank. And all you did was laugh. I remember you were always laughing. Even that last day, after you came in and jumped on me. You ran out laughing.”

He had to wait a few seconds for his throat to cooperate with him again.

“I can’t even explain how sorry I am. I should have been there. It should have never happened. But I know I can’t change it, no matter how much I wish I could. So I promise to keep trying to do better. Trying to be happy because I know that’s what you would want.” Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet and stepped forward, putting his hand on the warm stone. “I miss you, Donna. Especially during the summer. I promise I’ll be better about coming to visit you.” He let his hand fall away. “I love you.”

The walk back to Tony’s house was entirely silent, but not an uncomfortable one. As soon as he had been within reach, Stephen sought out Tony’s hand. Once back in the safety of Tony’s room, Stephen let go again, crying into his boyfriend’s chest while Tony held him tightly.

Not a lot was said for the rest of the night. They watched a couple movies, but mostly just sat together quietly until they fell asleep together.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the last chapter. The epilogue will be up tomorrow sometime around noon. I just have a bit of tinkering to do and then it'll be ready!

Because neither of them brought it up, Tony assumed they weren’t going to talk about the fact that it was their last weekend together before school started. The summer went by impossibly fast. In the blink of an eye, their last week was over, and it was already time for the goodbye party at the park.

Which was why Tony was so surprised when he walked in and no one was there.

After the park closed, Tony had gone to Sal’s to pick up the pizzas. But it had all been a guise, apparently. Just when he was about to call out, Owen appeared, sauntering down the steps from his apartment.

“What’s going on?” Tony inquired. “Where is everyone?”

By way of response, Owen smirked and took all but one of the pizzas from Tony. “You’re wanted at the wave pool.”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “By who?”

Owen rolled his eyes dramatically. “Caitlin. She’s going to finally follow through on her threat to strangle you.”

And with that, the manager disappeared back the way he came, but this time three pizzas richer.

So Tony made his way over to the wave pool, where his questions were finally answered.

Stephen was sitting at a picnic table, smiling over at him shyly. White Christmas lights were strung up around the chairs and umbrellas, illuminating the space in soft light as the sun was going down. A single raft was at the edge of the water, filled with blankets and pillows. On the far wall of the pool, the projector that was on the table behind Stephen displayed the title card of _Jurassic Park_.

“What’s all this?” Tony managed to ask.

“A surprise,” Stephen replied as he stood from the table and walked over to Tony. He took the box from him and set it down on the table. “I just wanted to do something special for you, because I’m not good at telling you or showing you how I feel.”

Tony swallowed. “Well, I don’t agree with that, but I’m definitely not complaining about this.”

“I thought we could watch _Jurassic Park_ and _Jaws._ Again,” Stephen explained. “Even though it was a year before we officially got together – I don’t know. It still felt like our first date.”

The response from Tony came by way of a kiss. He expertly put his hand on the back of Stephen’s neck and pulled him down, sealing their mouths together. Stephen took another step forward, pressing their bodies together from the chest down.

“This is incredible,” Tony breathed against Stephen’s lips when they parted. “Thank you, Steph.”

They made quick work of the pizza so that they could hop into the raft and get to the movies. Stephen anchored it to the picnic table with a rope so they wouldn’t drift too much and lose sight of the screen. The set up was perfect – they propped up on plenty of pillows, snuggled up next to each other with their legs tangled and blankets at the ready for when it got chillier.

Throughout the first movie, they talked and laughed more than they actually watched it. They fought over the candy and kissed more often than they didn’t. The only thing that stopped them from taking things any further was the thought that Owen was eating three pizzas in his apartment not too far away and would all but certainly pop his head out at the most inopportune moment possible.

Finally, for a decent stretch, they turned their attention back to the movie.

“I love that Jeff Goldbloom spends the majority of this movie completely out of harm’s way, just chilling with John Hammond with his shirt open,” Tony mused.

Stephen laughed. “I love that you said Jeff Goldbloom and not the character’s name, and yet said John Hammond.”

“I don’t care what movie it is, Jeff Goldbloom is basically always playing himself.” Tony propped himself up and looked over at Stephen. “You would be a really good actor.”

“Yeah?” Stephen frowned. “Based on what?”

“Your eyes, your cheekbones,” Tony listed before kissing said cheekbones. “Your voice. You’re nice and tall and have great hair.”

“So because you personally think I’m attractive, I would make a good actor?”

Tony nodded. “Yep. I’d watch you in anything you did. Buy all your movies and just put them on repeat.”

“That’s a little creepy,” Stephen said, but his smile betrayed him.

“It’s your fault, not mine,” Tony argued. “I’ve got no chance against what you do to me.”

While the credits rolled, the pair went back to making out. Stephen had tugged a blanket around their legs against the cool night air, accentuated by the pool water surrounding them. He had moved mostly on top of Tony, pressing down against him in all the right places. The man below him had a hand in Stephen’s hair, the other on the small of his back to keep as much contact as possible.

There was no question that this is what they were both going to miss the most. Not the physicality that came with their relationship, exactly. But being able to just be together, watching movies and making each other laugh, with so few other responsibilities to worry about. Because no matter what the future brought for them, it would only get more complicated from here.

But for now, it was perfect.

* * *

Their last night together technically never ended, because they never went to sleep.

The party at the park started things off. It was really fun, but they opted to sneak out early to head back to Tony’s house. His parents were already back in New York for various commitments, allowing the two young men to have the place to themselves.

Which they of course took advantage of.

Stephen was pretty sure he was on the verge of a heart attack. Which he was oddly okay with, given that it was brought on by literal hours of sex with Tony. They barely gave themselves enough time to catch their breath before they were going after one another again, simply unable to curb their desire. But finally, after bringing them over the edge for what had to have been the hundredth time that night, Tony all but collapsed forward against Stephen, burying his face into the taller man’s sweaty chest. Stephen immediately wrapped his arms around Tony’s back, refusing to let him go anywhere.

When their breathing finally returned to normal, Tony could immediately feel the change in the air between them. He picked his head back up and looked down at Stephen, who was clearly on the verge of tears. Silently, Tony sat up slowly before tugging gently on Stephen to do the same. Tony brought him into the bathroom, where they stayed under the spray of the hot water for a long time, letting the water rinse them clean while they stood in each other’s arms.

Once they were out and back in Tony’s bedroom, Stephen assumed they would get back in bed, either without clothes altogether or with very little. But when Tony started getting fully dressed, he raised an eyebrow in question.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Tony suggested with a smile that melted Stephen’s heart.

“The ice cream place is closed,” Stephen teased, but follow suit in pulling on his clothes. When he reached for his shoes, Tony stopped him.

“We don’t need shoes. Let’s just walk along the beach for a while, yeah?”

Outside in the cool ocean night air, they walked hand in hand along the water. Neither of them spoke. Instead, they listened to the crashing of the waves and looked up at the moon and stars above them, illuminating the sand before them as they strolled together. When the sand turned to the rocks of the jetty, they turned around, heading back home. But Tony suddenly stopped, effectively keeping Stephen in place as well, in a rather familiar spot.

Just about where they stood the night everything changed between them.

“I wanted to come back here,” Tony said, looking up at Stephen, “before we have to leave. Because I think this is my favorite spot in the entire world, because this is where I got to kiss you for the first time and found out you felt the same way I do.”

Stephen managed to speak through the lump in his throat. “I don’t want to leave, Tony.”

“I know. I don’t either,” Tony sighed, squeezing Stephen’s hand firmly. “But it’s also a really good thing.”

“How do you figure?” Stephen huffed.

“Because it’s the next step,” Tony replied. “For the next two years, it’s not going to be exactly how we want it to be. But once we get through it, we have the rest of our lives together. We can’t start that until this part starts.”

Tears stung Stephen’s eyes and blurred his vision. “But what if this isn’t the end of the beginning? What if it’s the beginning of the end?”

“It’s not.”

“You don’t know that,” Stephen argued. “You can’t know that, there’s no way -”

“I do,” Tony cut in gently. “I don’t know why, I just know. Don’t you?”

Stephen choked down a sob. “You’re it for me, Tony. There’s no doubt in my mind. It’s never going to change.”

Tony’s smile somehow diminished all the sadness and anxiety Stephen felt at the uncertainty of the months and years to come.

“Then we’re on the same page,” Tony said. “The reason this is going to work is because we both want it to. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. But I am saying that it’s going to happen.”

“I love you,” Stephen breathed suddenly. “More than I ever thought possible. You’re – god, Tony. You’re fucking everything to me.”

The kiss that followed was a little bit of everything. Desperate, loving, passionate. Hurried, slow.

Perfect.

They stayed there for a long time. When their legs were finally too weak to hold them anymore, they moved back to the dunes, sitting in the sand with Tony’s arm around Stephen’s shoulders. They watched the sun come up over the brilliant blue ocean, knowing things were never going to be quite the same ever again.

But also knowing they would never forget this summer.

* * *

The first week of school went better than Stephen thought it would.

One of his study buddies from the previous year was living on the same floor as him. His classes were going to be challenging but interesting, a combination that Stephen always sought out. While he already missed Tony like crazy, they talked every day, and it was a little easier than he thought it was going to be.

Thanks to the chaos of classes beginning and getting back into the routine of the school year, the first week flew by. Before he knew it, Stephen was leaving his last class of the week on Friday afternoon to head back to his room. He was planning on getting his work for the weekend organized before figuring out what he wanted to do for dinner.

As he walked, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. Just before four in the afternoon. He knew Tony didn’t have classes on Fridays, but was sure he was holed away in one lab or another for the day. Just as he was about to send him a text, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

It was an unmistakable shade of chestnut hair.

Jerking his head to the side, Stephen stared as Tony strode up to him as casually as if they were leaving the water park for the day. His pulled his hands from his pockets as he came up to Stephen, the sweetest smile he had ever seen on that perfect face.

“You were taking too long to respond to my texts,” Tony said by way of greeting to the look of confusion on Stephen’s face.

“Some of us have classes,” he replied without missing a beat.

Tony just shrugged. “Well, I got bored and was left unsupervised. I’m not sorry.”

Stephen was pulling Tony to him, kissing him hard just as soon as the other man had stopped speaking.


	21. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last part of the story. Thank you so so so much to everyone who read, kudos'd and commented. I'm so glad I decided to share this in its entirety and hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did writing it!!

As expected, it wasn’t easy.

More often than either of them would care to admit, stress from classes and life in general would create frustration between them, leading to four am fights on the phone, followed by 6 am calls pleading apologies and declaring their love over and over.

In spite of the distance, in spite of the obstacles and bad days, they never gave up. There was never even a hint of taking a break or ending things. The harder things got, the harder they worked for one another.

And then, they were graduating and moving to New York together.

Stephen ultimately chose Columbia for medical school. Tony was of course working for Stark Industries, but absolutely hated the business side of things. He worked in his own lab, setting his own hours and answering really only to himself. With his father thrown into the mix every once and again. For the most part, he only had to deal with the board and investors during a product launch. Tony usually had to travel for those, and even managed to convince Stephen to come along once or twice.

The first four years in New York were some of the hardest.

It was a paradox, really. The pair were almost overwhelmingly ecstatic to finally be out on their own, living together in their own apartment in the city. But Tony’s success in convincing Stephen to allow him to pay more than his fair share in rent so they didn’t live in a rundown place often gave way to arguments. Stephen felt like he had to constantly remind Tony to stop throwing his money around and at him, while Tony insisted he just wanted to be supportive and make sure Stephen had everything he needed.

Late nights studying, Tony traveling, both of them stretched to their limits best summed up those four years. They were happy, there’s no denying that. But at times they felt stuck, trapped running in place when all they wanted to do was move forward.

When Stephen passed his boards and was officially a doctor was when the fun started all over again.

Having his own money finally coming in steadily allowed Stephen to become more lax about Tony spoiling him. Spoiling the both of them, really. Galas and fundraisers and weekend trips to Italy when they were both off. They felt like they had when they first got together, running around and doing whatever they wanted, enjoying finally having accomplished what they had set out to.

So they started the rest of their lives together.

Stephen proposed on the last day of their summer vacation, in the same spot where they had first kissed. In the middle of the night, when it was so dark Tony had hardly seen the taller man get down on one knee before asking him. Tony’s response came in the form of a kiss, tackling Stephen down onto the sand, both of them laughing and kissing as the waves reached up to them and soaked their clothes.

They didn’t care.

The wedding was nine months later, on the first day of summer.

* * *

Somehow, in all of their conversations about their future together, children never came up. The focus was always on how they would get to Stephen being a doctor and Tony running his share of the company and how their relationship would work with all that in mind.

It wasn’t until Rhodey had his first baby a few months after they had gotten married that it dawned on Stephen they had never talked about it, and it was very clear Tony loved kids.

Rhodey’s daughter was obsessed with her uncle Tony. Of course, he spoiled her rotten right from the start. She had him wrapped around her finger before she could even walk.

The third summer into their marriage was when Stephen really saw it. Rhodey, his wife Amy, and their daughter Maddie were staying with them for the week at the Stark’s beach house. Stephen watched Tony playing with the little girl on the beach every day, teaching her to swim in the pool, showing her the best way to build a sand castle. Sneaking her another bowl of ice cream when her parents weren’t looking.

Once they were back home in New York, Tony noticed the change in Stephen’s demeanor.

“You want kids, don’t you,” Stephen stated in response to Tony’s inquiring as to what was the matter.

The brunet blinked. “I, uh, don’t know,” he stammered with a shrug. “We’ve never talked about it.”

“I know,” Stephen sighed. “I think I kind of did that on purpose.”

Tony felt his heart sink slightly. “You don’t want kids?” he asked, keeping his voice even.

“I don’t know.” A long stretch of silence settled between them. “But you do.”

Eventually, Tony nodded. “Yeah, I do. I guess I never really thought to bring it up. Is it something we can talk about?”

“Of course,” Stephen replied. The sudden insecurity he saw in Tony’s eyes made his stomach knot. “I’m not saying I don’t. I’m saying...I don’t know what I’m saying.”

“That’s okay,” Tony said gently. He slid his hand into Stephen’s, shuffling closer to him as they sat on the couch together. “I just want you to know that it’s not a deal breaker, honey. It’s not that I feel like anything is missing, or that I’m not happy with you. I am. I always have been, and I always will be.”

“But?” Stephen promoted.

Tony shook his head. “No but. Just – it would be nice to add to it, is all. I promise, Steph, it’s not something I’ve totally got my heart set on.” Which wasn’t a complete lie, at least. “I’d like to talk about it, though.”

“So do I,” Stephen agreed.

They didn’t talk about it for almost six months.

And when they finally did, it was in at a time when Tony had least expected it.

When they got back home that night after dinner at their favorite restaurant, Stephen was all over Tony. Maybe it was the wine, or the fact that Tony wore those pants that hugged everything _just so._ Whatever it was, Stephen couldn’t stop himself. He had Tony up against the door as soon as it was closed. Their clothes were gone long before they made it to their bedroom.

They ended on their sides, with Stephen pressed behind Tony, thrusting into him steadily as he stroked Tony’s dick in time with his hips. After a sure hit to his prostate and a firm bite to his shoulder, Tony came into his hand, jerking back onto Stephen to drive him even deeper and attain his own release.

It was then, after Stephen had slipped out of Tony’s body and gave a half hearted effort at cleaning them, that he brought it up.

“How would we do it?”

As it turned out, neither of them were particularly comfortable with the idea of surrogacy for one reason or another. So that basically just left adoption.

Following their logistical conversation came the one about why Stephen had been so hesitant to even talk about it for a while. That was the next morning, while they were still in bed, drinking coffee and pretending there wasn’t anything outside the walls of their bedroom.

“I want to have a kid with you, because I know it’ll make you so happy,” Stephen said, looking down into his mug instead of at Tony. “And it’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just scared.”

Tony frowned slightly. “Of what?”

Stephen shrugged weakly. “Everything, it feels like. Anything changing between us. I know it sounds selfish, it _is_ selfish, but I don’t want to risk anything getting in the way of us. And I – I don’t think I’ll be a very good father.”

“How the hell can you possibly think that?”

“Which one?”

“Either.” Finally, Stephen looked over at Tony, and those brown eyes locked him in. “Nothing could ever get in the way of us. Look at everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve navigated together. A family would be a reward for all of it. As for you not being a good father...honestly, I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.”

“It’s natural for you,” Stephen argued with a shake of his head. “You’re great with kids. I don’t know what to do around them, and I just don’t want to fuck up everyone’s lives.”

Before he could protest, Tony was taking Stephen’s coffee from him and putting it on his bedside table. Next, he threw the blankets off them and moved to straddle Stephen’s hips. The taller man raised an eyebrow, to which Tony put his hands on either side of Stephen’s face and held him in place.

“You are the single most loving, caring, intelligent, fucking _incredible_ person I have ever met in my life. I have no idea how you’ve managed to work so god damn hard and yet always put yourself last. To say that any kid would be lucky to have you as their dad is a laughable understatement.”

Stephen swallowed hard at the emotions Tony’s words conjured. He raised his hands and gripping Tony’s wrists to try and steady himself. “But what if – I’m terrified something could happen to them. What if something happens to them, Tony?”

He didn’t need to explain what he meant. The shadows of losing Donna still haunted his gray eyes. Tony smiled sweetly and brushed his thumbs across Stephen’s cheeks, the stubble there not really felt thanks to the callouses.

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Tony promised. “Our job will be to protect them. And, yeah, sadly accidents can happen. We can’t predict the future. All we can do is our best to keep them safe and love them. Everything else...we’ll figure it out as it comes.”

Stephen used his hold on Tony’s arms to pull himself forward and seal their lips together, as well as their decision.

The adoption process was relatively easy for them because of Tony’s name. It wasn’t fair, but he didn’t care. He wanted to push it through once they were set before Stephen could talk himself out of it. Tony knew that once he had time with their baby, he would be sold.

He was right.

Peter was thirteen months old when Tony and Stephen took him home.

There was uncertainty and hesitation at first by the both of them. Even though they had read every book, article, and magazine they could get their hands on, nothing really prepares you for your first night with a baby on your own.

But Peter’s personality quashed all of their anxiety quickly. He was the happiest baby either of them had ever seen. The kid couldn’t stop smiling and giggling, pointing at everything in the apartment and mumbling his own made up words for them.

It was love at first sight with their son. No doubt about it.

* * *

They blinked and already they were celebrating Peter’s fourth birthday.

Of course, he was born in the summer, so their family was always at the beach house for the occasion. Both Stephen and Tony’s parents, as well as Rhodey and his growing family spent the week in the sun, spoiling their little boy like crazy. Not that he didn’t deserve it, of course.

Seeing Peter playing with Rhodey’s daughter and son all week made the gears in Stephen’s head start turning again.

Back in New York, they returned to their busy lifestyle. Running Peter to and from pre-school. Stephen working ridiculous hours at the hospital. Tony flying all over the country and even the world. It felt like they were hardly ever all in the same place for more than a few days at a time.

But when they were, it was absolutely perfect.

* * *

“Daddy.”

Stephen’s eyes opened immediately. He hadn’t heard Peter creep into the bedroom. Once getting home from his shift, Stephen had collapsed immediately into bed. Tony and Peter were out picking up breakfast. He didn’t want to miss seeing them, but he had been on his feet for close to twenty hours and he was all but on the verge of passing out.

“Peter.”

In the dim light of the bedroom, Stephen could just make out Peter scrunching his nose. “Sorry. Are you asleep?”

“Not anymore.”

“Sorry, daddy.”

“Come here,” Stephen said with a chuckle as he drew the covers back. Peter immediately hopped up onto the bed and crawled over to Stephen, huddling into his side. “What’s up kiddo?”

“It’s time for my nap too,” Peter said around a yawn. “But I wanted to check to make sure.”

“Make sure of what?”

“That you weren’t getting up so I wouldn’t be asleep when you’re up.”

Stephen wrapped his arms around Peter tightly as the little boy burrowed into the warmth of the bed. He pressed a kiss to his messy curls. And fought back a sigh. He hated that his son had to think about planning his naps around when he would be able to see his father.

“How about we take a nap together, and then we can get up at the same time?”

“Okay,” Peter agreed, nodding into Stephen’s chest. “I like that plan.”

Just as Stephen was about to drift back to sleep, he heard the panicked footsteps of his husband coming down the hall. He turned and looked over his shoulder to see Tony come into the room, visibly letting out the breath he had been holding in his search for Peter, who was fast asleep in Stephen’s arms.

“Our kid is a little ninja,” Tony whispered.

Stephen smiled. “Lost him again?”

Tony huffed as he crossed the room to sit on the bed behind Stephen. He reached out and brushed the hair off Peter’s forehead before doing the same to Stephen. “Nonsense. I was just checking all the places he wasn’t.”

“He wanted to see if I was going to get up before he took his nap,” Stephen reported.

“There’s about a ream’s worth of drawings he can’t wait to show you,” Tony said with a smile. “He needs new colored pencils. Again.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Stephen’s forehead, then repeated the action on Peter. “I’ve got some work to finish up and some dishes to do. I’ll have lunch ready for when you two get up.”

When he moved to get off the bed, Stephen reached over and gently grabbed his wrist. “I don’t thank you enough.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “For everything you do when I’m not here. I’m never here, to help with Peter or -”

He was cut off by Tony firmly pressing his lips to Stephen’s. “Go to sleep, baby. You’re exhausted and starting to ramble nonsense again.”

Before Stephen could argue, Tony was out of the room, closing the door silently behind him.

About an hour and a half later, Stephen woke up when Peter did. He could have used a few more hours of sleep, but he made his son a promise that he did not intend to break. Slowly, he shuffled into the kitchen after Peter, who all but ran and jumped onto Tony as if he hadn’t seen him in years. His husband greeted him with a kiss to his cheek before ushering both Stephen and Peter into seats at the island and putting fresh homemade pizza in front of them.

Peter spent as much time showing Stephen his latest drawings as he did eating his lunch.

“And this is the lateral line,” Peter explained, pointing to his diagram of a great white shark. “It’s a bunch of, um, bunch of cells that can sense other animals in the water so the shark knows where everything is.”

Stephen looked from the drawing, to his son, then to Tony with a look of near awe.

Tony just smiled. “Old shark week episodes are on Netflix. So that’s what we’ve been doing for two days.”

“It goes from the tail all the way to the nose,” Peter added. “But this one isn’t done all the way yet. I gotta add more teeth.”

Later that night, after putting Peter to bed, and reading him two stories, and hearing some more facts about sharks, Stephen found Tony once again in the kitchen. He was just finishing loading the dishwasher, snapping it closed and rinsing his hands in the sink. Stephen stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling the shorter man until his back was flush to Stephen’s chest.

Light kisses were pressed against Tony’s shoulder while he dried his hands. He put the towel down and leaned back even further, resting his head against Stephen’s shoulder and tilting his head to give his husband access to his neck. Now dry hands rested over Stephen’s forearms while his lips trailed over every inch of skin he could reach.

They were both aware of the amount of time it had been since they were physical with one another. It was just how life unfolded. But this was starting to feel like an opportunity. Tony turned in Stephen’s embrace to sling his arms around his neck and draw him in for a slow kiss.

When they parted, Tony was expecting Stephen to start moving them towards the bedroom. But what happened instead was even better.

The neurosurgeon moved back enough to look into Tony’s brown eyes, smiling softly at his husband.

“I think we should have another kid.”

* * *

Harley was basically the opposite of Peter.

The social worker explained to them that he had had a rough few years to start his life. Living in a violent home. Both parents now deceased from drug overdoses. The aunt in New York who was going to take him in suddenly up and leaving without a trace. He didn’t act out or cause any trouble. He was just very quiet and had a hard time adapting to the people around him, especially the other kids in the foster home because he wasn’t used to being around anyone his own age.

But then he met Peter.

It was as if the boys had been together every day of their lives. The agency set up a meeting with Tony and Stephen, during which Harley was very quiet, but not opposed to the idea of moving to his own home and out of the one he was currently in with eleven other kids. There was slight hesitation on the social worker’s part that he would be wary of Peter, so she suggested them meeting first as well.

After a grand total of six minutes, they were the best of friends.

Peter brought his colored pencils and some Legos to their play date. Harley took to the blocks right away. All of the talking was done by Peter in the beginning, but gradually, Harley came out of his shell and very quickly started to have fun with his new friend. They were on the floor at the far end of the room, while the adults sat at the table on the other side, talking among themselves, but really watching out of the corner of their eyes.

“Are they nice?” Harley suddenly asked.

“Who?” Peter wanted to know, not looking up from his drawing of an owl in a large tree.

“Your dads.” Harley glanced over at the two men, who he didn’t realize could hear them. “They seem really nice.”

“Oh, yeah,” Peter agreed. “They’re so nice.”

Harley fiddled with a Lego piece. “Do they yell a lot?”

Peter looked up at the other boy. “Not ever. Well, one time. But it was because I was trying to get something off the stove and the stove was on and they thought I was going to get burned.”

“Did you?”

“Nope. They stopped me in time.” Peter pushed himself up from where he had been laying to sit cross legged next to Harley. “Do you want to come live with us?”

Harley shrugged. “Yeah. I guess. Do you want me to?”

Peter nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! I’ve always wanted a brother or a sister. I was just a little baby when I got adopted so I never lived in a big house like you. Do you want to come over and see where we live?” Harley nodded silently. “Daddy?” Peter called across the room. “Can Harley come over so he can decide if he wants to live with us?”

As it turned out, Harley did very much want to live with this family.

The new addition changed a lot for them.

Stephen became the head of neurology, which allowed him to focus more on research and managing personnel as opposed to spending days in the operating room. He still performed surgeries, but his hours there were nowhere near what they used to be. And Tony worked from home on Fridays when the boys didn’t have pre school so that between the two parents, someone was almost always home with them.

Not that Harley or Peter minded when uncle Happy would babysit, or when they would get to hang out with uncle Rhodey and Maddy and JJ.

Of course, doubling their children made Tony and Stephen doubly tired. But they never complained, unless they were joking, and neither of them would change a thing.

The Stark-Strange family was all but perfect.

* * *

All at once, that day felt like it was just yesterday and years ago at the same time. Neither Stephen nor Tony could really remember a time when they didn’t have the two boys in their lives. Peter was now ten, Harley nine, and the fact that they had ever lived without either of them just didn’t make any sense.

Especially during the summers.

The boys were obsessed with the beach. Bribery was the only way their parents could get them out of the ocean. Stephen had been very nervous at first, and still had bouts of it at times. A few years ago he had even spiraled into a rather serious panic attack. He had gone inside to use the bathroom and when he stepped out onto the back porch, he couldn’t see the boys in the water anymore. In a flash he was sprinting down the sand, only to be stopped by Tony’s strong arms.

It took a little while, but he finally calmed down and understood that Harley and Peter were just next door, at his parent’s house, where frozen lemonade was being exchanged under their agreement to put on some more sunscreen and drink some water.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said softly from where he sat next to Stephen on the hot sand. “I swear, I never take my eyes off them. I promise you. Not even for a second.”

“I know,” Stephen’s rasped, voice still shaky. “I know you don’t, and you never would. I didn’t mean to freak out like that. Just – I was expecting to see them in the water, or on the beach right out back and when they weren’t there...” he shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“If anything ever happened to them, Tony, I -”

“All we’ve gotta worry about right now is a sugar overdose,” Tony cut in gently before pressing a kiss to Stephen’s forehead.

Absent that flash of terror, the summers were always perfect.

* * *

The sound of the boys running out of their rooms and downstairs roused Stephen from his deep sleep. He sighed heavily and rolled over, seeking out Tony’s warm body under the covers.

“Your children are up,” Stephen muttered into the soft hair on top of Tony’s head.

“I don’t hear anything,” Tony disagreed, voice laced with sleep. “So it sounds like they’re your children right now.” A loud crash that could only have been one of said children dragging pots and pans out from the cabinets followed as soon as Tony had stopped speaking. “They’re going to burn the god damn house down,” he groaned.

A laugh rumbled through Stephen’s chest. “I’m on it,” he declared. “Give me a half hour, and there will be a plate of waffles with your name on it.”

Tony turned to look at Stephen through open half open eye. “I’ll be down in twenty. I know better than to leave that much time for them to eat everything in sight on me.”

Fifteen minutes later, Tony dragged himself out of the soft, warm bed. He pulled on a t shirt and started to make his way downstairs. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he saw the wreckage caused by Peter and Harley already. Toys, some of which Tony barely recognized, littered the floor. Plastic darts were stuck to the walls and ceiling. One of their shoes was at the top of the stairs, just waiting to trip someone.

Smiling to himself, Tony tossed the errant shoe aside and went to find his family.

“Waffles _and_ pancakes?”

“The delegation couldn’t come to an agreement,” Stephen reported.

“Dad, look!” Peter said excitedly. “Put a pancake between two waffles. Then you get the best of both worlds.”

“You’re a genius, Pete,” Tony observed. “But didn’t we have some sort of deal about acting like maniacs before 8 am while we’re on vacation?”

Harley and Peter looked at the clock on the wall above the sink, then at each other. It was barely 7 in the morning, never mind 8. “But you promised we could go to the water park today,” Harley offered.

Tony huffed. “Yes, I did. But the park doesn’t even open until 9.”

“Oh. Well, we need to plan everything and get ready.”

“You’ve been there a million – fine. Whatever. I’m too tired to argue. Do whatever you want. I’m powerless and have no control.”

Stephen handed Tony a hot mug of coffee. “Here. This will help make you a little less dramatic.”

Without a response, Tony took a long drink from the magical liquid while he went to take the seat between his sons. His husband slid a plate of waffles in front of him and suddenly, Tony didn’t care what time it was anymore.

After everyone ate, the boys disappeared back upstairs to change and pack their bags for the park. Tony collected the dishes and started for the sink, where Stephen stepped in front of him and took everything out of his hands.

“You cooked,” Tony pointed out. “I’ll do the dishes.”

Stephen scoffed. “You have done the dishes 99.9% of the time we’ve been together. You also cook most of the time, too.” When Tony opened his mouth to argue, Stephen pressed on. “And you know that your mom hates the way you load the dishwasher.”

Tony gave his husband his most unimpressed look. “I’d put everything away before they get here tomorrow.”

“You’d get distracted by our two angelic children and forget.” He pressed a kiss to Tony’s scrunched forehead and turned to get to rinsing. “If you want to be useful, you can make more coffee.”

That wasn’t something Tony could argue with.

Per Harley and Peter’s insistence, they got to the water park right at 9 that morning. They dumped their bags on the chairs and took off for the slides, throwing promises over their shoulders that they’ll stay together and be careful as they ditched their parents. Tony collapsed onto a chair while Stephen sat less theatrically on the one next to him.

“We could drug them.” Stephen raised an eyebrow to that, but wasn’t sure Tony could see him. His eyes were covered by his dark sunglasses, and were most likely closed. “That’ll keep them in bed for a little longer. No hard stuff, of course. Maybe just some NyQuil. Or Benadryl. But I’ll leave that part to you, Doc.”

“And what would we do with all our extra time after putting our children into a drug induced coma?” Stephen wanted to know.

“Sleep.”

Stephen laughed. “You barely ever slept before. Don’t blame them.”

“I’m sure we could find something to do with ourselves,” Tony sighed. He let his hand fall from where it was resting on his stomach and reached out, wrapping it around Stephen’s leg just above his ankle and brushing over the warm skin with his thumb.

“We are rather creative,” Stephen agreed, earning a smile from his husband.

It was no secret their sex life had changed dramatically in the twenty-five years they had been together. The passion was certainly still there. But they weren’t in the twenties anymore, and were now able to spend an extended period of time alone together without feeling the overwhelming need to rip each other’s clothes off. Not that that _never_ happened anymore. Just less frequently, what with two kids around and needing the stars to align perfectly in order to have the time.

But would either of them change anything about their lives together? Absolutely not.

To let Stephen lay back on his chair, Tony reluctantly released his hold on him. They relaxed in the early morning sun for a while, reminding each other of stories from when they worked here decades ago and marveling at how barely anything had changed.

And then, without warning, they each had a soaking wet son jump right onto them, laughing hysterically.

“When are you guys going to come on the slides with us?” Peter pleaded.

“They’re too old,” Harley teased as Tony maneuvered himself to sit up and deposit Harley on the chair next to him. “They’ll have heart attacks or something.”

Tony scoffed. “We just didn’t want to embarrass you by beating you on the racing slides.”

“Yeah right!” Harley laughed as if that were the funniest thing he had ever heard. “You’ve got no shot.”

“Come on, please!” Peter chimed in. “Come on the slides with us!”

Without anything resembling a fight, Tony and Stephen shed their t shirts and followed their sons to the slides. Where they proceeded to win every single race before Peter and Harley gave up and decided to switch to the tube slides they could all go on together.

Just over an hour later, they grabbed individual tubes and hopped into the lazy river. Peter and Harley sat still for all of three minutes before they began trying to flip each other off their tubes.

“Are we ever going to explain to them that we’ll win a race every single time because we’re heavier?” Stephen asked Tony.

“No,” he replied with a laugh. “They’ll figure it out when they’re older and flip out about us cheating somehow.”

After a few laps in the river, Peter and Harley became too restless and opted to head back over to the obstacle course. Stephen and Tony returned to their chairs where they had a front row seat to watch their kids have the time of their lives on the jungle gym surrounded by water.

Stephen found himself looking between Peter and Harley and Tony. The years had certainly been good to his husband. He got more and more handsome the longer they were together. Despite being able to fully appreciate it, Tony’s looks were probably his least favorite aspect of the other man. He was the most supportive, loyal partner Stephen could have ever asked for, and he was an even better father. There would never be any doubt in Peter or Harley’s minds that they were completely loved and the most important thing in their lives.

Brown eyes gazing at him over the top of sunglasses brought Stephen out of his thoughts. Tony had caught him staring for probably the thousandth time in their relationship. But he didn’t need to ask what Stephen had been thinking about. The goofy smile on his face gave him away.

“You go get in line for some food while I wrangle the acrobats?”

“Deal,” Stephen agreed with a smile. He leaned over and stole a quick kiss before standing up and heading over to the concession stand.

But on his way, something caught his attention.

The board outside the ticket booth, where the photo of him and Tony from all those years ago was still up. Stephen’s smile matched the one he had that day as he sat next to Tony on the picnic table. Memories from those summers flooded his mind, as vivid as the days he had lived them. Spending the days flirting with Tony while they worked. Making out every viable place they could possibly find. Eating ice cream sundaes at three in the morning. Going to the drive-ins.

“You’re supposed to be waiting in line.”

Strong arms wrapped around Stephen’s waist where he stood in front of the pictures, old and new. He felt Tony rest his chin on his shoulder and didn’t need to be able to see his face to know he was smiling too.

“I almost stole this one the first time I saw it,” he found himself admitting. “But then I was interrupted by some jerk shooting me with a water gun.”

“Sounds like a real douchebag,” Tony hummed. “Did you get him back?”

“Once or twice.”

“I bet our kids would create a suitable diversion if you wanted to lift it.”

Stephen shook his head. “Nah. Let it stay here.”

He didn’t say that he didn’t need an old picture to remind him of the summer he fell in love for the first and only time. It was clear Tony knew.

“What are you guys doing?”

They turned to find Peter and Harley looking up at them curiously. “The food is over there,” Harley pointed out.

“Oh, that must be why no one has asked us what we want yet,” Tony mused. “I knew something was wrong.”

The nine-year-old rolled his eyes dramatically, almost a carbon-copy of how Tony does it. “We were promised chicken fingers.”

“And fries,” Peter added. “And ice cream.”

“You guys get promised a lot of pretty great things,” Stephen observed, ruffling Peter’s wet curls from where they were stuck to his head. “Anything else your father has promised you I’m not aware of?”

Tony smirked. “There might have been something about having a fire tonight. And s’mores. But I really can’t be sure. I’ve been throwing so many around and it’s hard to keep track.”

“He definitely promised all of that,” Harley offered. “Don’t worry. We won’t forget anything.”

As if Tony or Stephen were concerned about that.

Unsurprisingly, the boys were unwilling to leave the park until right before closing time. They had to get the maximum amount of trips down the slides, after all. But eventually, they had to pile back into the car and head home, where they jumped right back into the pool.

Stephen sat and watched them swim while Tony cooked dinner on the grill up on the porch above them. He periodically tossed Peter and Harley a football, which they splashed and clawed at each other in order to try to get to it first.

The smell of the steak and chicken successfully lured the pair of wannabe fish from the pool to join their parents on the deck for dinner. After eating more than their fair share, they reluctantly agreed to go upstairs and shower, finally changing into dry clothes and coming back downstairs for the promised s’mores and fire out back.

The Stark-Strange family sat around the fire, toasting marshmallows and arguing over who had the better technique. Harley wouldn’t let the fact that his immediately caught on fire deter him from his argument that he was clearly the best at it. Peter, on the other hand, ate more straight out of the bag than he did between any graham crackers.

When the sun was finally down for good, Stephen ducked into the house, returning with sweatshirts for everyone as well as blankets. He realized after a moment that no one was wearing anything that had originally belonged to them. Peter was wearing one of Tony’s old MIT sweatshirts. Harley pulled on one of Peter’s that was covered in various species of sharks. Tony had Stephen’s faded Johns Hopkins zip up. And as for Stephen, he squeezed into an old maroon hoodie that he never returned after a certain boy gave it to him on a similar summer night twenty-five years ago.

“Did you decide on NyQuil or Benadryl?”

With a smile, Stephen wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders and drew him closer. “You don’t think we tired them out today?”

Tony huffed. “Look at them. Do they seem tired out?”

In fact, Peter and Harley did not. They were already discussing what they wanted to do the rest of the week, in far too much detail for such young kids.

“Dads, can we go for a bike ride to the secret beach tomorrow?” Peter inquired.

“Or maybe the go karts?”

“No,” Peter disagreed. “It’s supposed to rain Wednesday so we should save the go karts for then.”

“Oh yeah. Good thinking. Okay, so bike ride tomorrow and then beach Tuesday and go karts Wednesday.”

“I’ll buy you each your own go kart if you stay in bed until 8 every morning for the rest of the vacation.”

Their eyes lit up brighter than Christmas morning. “Deal!” they agreed in unison.

While the boys got carried away talking about their newest future present, Stephen looked over at Tony, less than shocked to see a smirk on his face.

“You already got them go karts, didn’t you,” he stated more than asked.

A quick peck on the lips told Stephen all he needed to know. “Techncially, I built them. But I had to _buy_ some of the parts. And they go way faster than anything that can be bought.”

“Tony,” Stephen groaned, but only half-heartedly.

The laugh that came from his husband could have just as easily come from one of their kids. “It’s completely safe, I promise. They’ll be fine.”

As the fire started to die down, the adults started to clean up the remnants of the packaging that one held the fixing for the s’mores that Peter and Harley all but devoured. While Tony gathered the trash, Stephen collected the blankets and was about to order the pair to bed when they looked up at him with their best puppy dog eyes.

“Could we all watch a movie together in the bonus room?” Peter asked sweetly. “Please?”

“We’ll sleep later if you let us stay up later,” Harley added in his best innocent voice.

Stephen turned to Tony, who was just grinning. “It’s like a hostage negotiation.”

“They hold all the power and they know it. Just tell them yes as long as we get to pick the movie.”

“We can hear you, ya know,” Harley huffed.

Stephen dumped the pile of blankets on his sons. “Bring these upstairs with you. We’ll make the popcorn and be right up.”

The boys didn’t need to be told twice.

Once inside the kitchen with the popcorn popping away in the microwave, Stephen wrapped an arm around Tony’s waist and pulled him in for a kiss. His other hand found it’s way to Tony’s hair, while Tony’s planted themselves firmly on Stephen’s hips.

It wasn’t until the microwave started beeping at them that they pulled away.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Tony breathed against Stephen’s lips. “But what was that for?”

“For being you,” Stephen replied with a shrug.

Tony smiled. “Sap.”

“It’s just...” Stephen shook his head slowly as he fixated on Tony’s eyes as if it were the first time he had ever seen them. “I never thought it was possible to be where I am right now. Where we are. To have a family of my own and be this god damn happy every single day. And it’s all because of you.”

“You give me way too much credit,” Tony said around the lump of emotion in his throat. “I didn’t do any of this on my own. If it weren’t for you, who knows where I would have ended up. But instead, I ended up with you. Where I always wanted to be.”

The following kiss was broken up by the sounds of Harley and Peter from upstairs demanding their popcorn. Stephen and Tony laughed against each other, holding on for just a bit longer before getting the ever important salty snack and making their way upstairs to join their sons.


End file.
